


Gotham's Puppet Princess

by Spirit_of_chaotic_dreams



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Existential Crisis, Mentions of Panic Attacks, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28511184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spirit_of_chaotic_dreams/pseuds/Spirit_of_chaotic_dreams
Summary: Joker saw that Bats had a lot rugrats, and he wanted one of his own. His protege, his sidekick. And one day he got his wish, in the form of his daughter Marinette Quinzel.(Basically an AU where Mari is the daughter of the joker and a lot of stuff happens.Chapter 1 was originally a prompt)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Joker (DCU), Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel
Comments: 7
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

Inspired by @Ozmav's Maribat AU. Mandrake does not belong to me, he was made by @kelelamentia  
________________________________________________________________

An Au where Mari is the bio daughter of the Joker and Harley Quinn. Joker has no idea about Lucy, and this was before Harley left him. 

Joker was jealous that the bat had so many kids, so he and Harley had Mari. Harley wanted to name her daughter something sweet like Mary, while joker wanted a name like Dolly. they decided on Marinette. “It has Mary in it Harl! Plus it can also be Marionette!”

Mari is somewhat a good person, she wont hurt plants, animals, or kids, but she loves doing fun things with her Pops. Like putting a smile on the gloomy people of Gotham, or creating some mischief to bring out the bat. When she was eight she started to help format plans, make ideas for gadgets and make her parents suits. All from the safety of their hideout, she watched everything on the news. Well almost everything, some of the henchmen would turn off the TV when anything that would put the Joker in a poor light came on. (The aftermath, or the death counts)

She’s best friends with Ivy’s son, Mandrake? Their moms are best friends, so they met when they were very young. They were a little hesitant to be around one another, because Mari was a the crazy daughter of the Joker and because Manny was “no fun!” but in the end they became friends. Mari punched some kid in the face because he was making fun of Manny for playing with flowers. 

When Mari was around ten, she made her debut in the villain world of Gotham, she picked the moniker of “Marionette”. After a few more attacks, the media called her “The Puppet Princess”, Mari loved it all. She was having fun with her Mom and Pops, she would have fun with Bud and Lou, to Marinette Quinn life was perfect. But when she became Joker’s official sidekick, that perfect life shattered before her eyes. Mom had run off with Ivy and Mandrake, they left her behind, her last memory of them was them running away from her. Then the hideout was beginning to crumble and then there was pain. Lots of agonizing pain. Then release.

Two months later, Marinette woke up to her Pops saying that when her mom and aunt Ivy blew up the hideout, it fell on her and left her hospitalized in a coma. He said she inhaled too much smoke and now her lungs need time to heal, so she has to remain in her room where it’s safe for her. As for her body? She’ll have to stay in that full body cast until “The doc says you’re all healed up!” 

She understood. He’s such a good dad.   
_______________________________________________________________


	2. Chapter 2

**________________________________________________________________**

When Marinette first opened her eyes, she took in a huge breath of air. Like she had been holding her breath for too long, and was now taking in massive gulps of much needed air. After regaining her breath, she found that she was face to face with the familiar grin of her pops. His face illuminated by a bright green light that she couldn’t detect the source.

“Daddy!”, she cried out, burying her head in his shoulder, she felt her eyes water and her words getting caught in her throat.

She had been under the building, trapped. Her legs crushed and her arms impaled by some debris. Crying out in pain, screaming for help as loud as she could, until she had just felt so tired and everything had hurt so much. Then there was nothing. 

“Shhh. There, there, Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here”, he whispered as he rocked her back and forth. “And Daddy will be the one to make the ones who did this to you pay.”

Then Marinette felt a sudden prick in the back of her neck,then everything began to blur. Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep in the safety of Pops arms. 

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette sighed, it was now three months since Mom left and dropped a building on her, and since that weird dream. And ever since that day she’s been planning her revenge. Unfortunately, she was stuck in a full body cast, which was weird because she felt fine. In fact it felt like she just took a really long nap and was now completely refreshed!

Sure, she can’t move, and her only form of entertainment was the tv, which was currently showing the Looney Tunes. Despite her misfortune, she felt happy. She was alive, she was healing and she had Pops! Sure he would have to leave her on her own sometimes, but Pops always came back! Unlike mom…who was the reason why she was in a coma for two months! And was the reason she was now trapped in her own room! Her! Harley Quinn’s only daughter! **HOW DARE SHE DO THIS TO HER!**

Marinette felt her entire body begin heating up from all the anger she felt taking over her body. She could feel herself start thrashing around, and the bed she was on shaking from her movement. She felt, she didn’t control, it was like being in control was not an option. Then it felt as if a mini jolt of electricity went up her spine and suddenly she just felt at ease. 

So Marinette sat, watching the Looney Tunes always cheered her up. Reminding her of the fun she’ll get to have with Pops once she’s all better. Then, Daffy Duck got his head blown up. She burst out laughing, not caring that her ribs were beginning to hurt more and more with every cackle. 

She didn’t know exactly when she fell asleep, she just knew she woke up to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She slowly opened her eyes rapidly as to try and rid herself of the sweet lull of not yet awake, but not yet asleep. Yawning, she asked “Whhhhhhho-”

“Why Dolly! It’s your dear old Popsicle!”,the familiar voice of Pops brought an instant smile on her face.

He’s home! Finally! “It’s open!”, She said excitedly. 

The door creaked open, and out popped a teddy bear? A teddy bear! Marinette squealed. And from behind the toy was Pops! “Hello Dolly! I brought you a toy!” He walked over to her and plopped down on her bed, and gave her an awkward one sided hug.

Marinette’s smile just got wider, “Aww Pops! I missed you!” 

He smiled at her but then he frowned, and turned away from her. His shoulders started shaking, like he was crying.

“Pops?”, She said softly. “Daddy?”

He turned back to look at her, his eyes full of tears and he looked so sad. “I’m so sorry Dolly. I just came from your doctor’s place. He gave me good news, but also bad news!”, He wailed.

“I-I don’t understand. What did he say?”, She asked, her smile long gone.

“Good news is that, he said, that your arms are almost all better, but your legs are gonna take a while longer to heal.”, Through his tears, he gave her a soft smile and pinched her cheek. 

This is what he did to comfort her when she was scared of the monsters under her bed, he was trying to ease her fear. Somehow this didn’t make her feel better. 

“T-then what’s the bad news.”, she timidly asked. Suddenly the image of Pops being all by himself by a lone grave was all that she could think of. No! She can’t leave him by himself, he’d be so lonely. She can’t die!

Pops’ smile disappeared again, “Your x-rays came back and…your lungs. T-there’s extensive damage because of all the smoke you inhaled and from being almost crushed by the hideout . Doc says that if you had stayed underneath that building any longer…It’s a miracle that you’re alive right now.”

Marinette nodded, it wasn’t as bad as she had feared, but she was still relieved to find out that she wasn’t gonna die. “Geez Pops! Ya had me worried for a sec! I thought the doc said I was gonna die!”, she smiled. When Pops looked at her like she had grown a second head, she quickly added,“Don’t get me wrong! I understand that my lungs are in bad shape, but I know I’ma get better! Then me and you will be running this town! We’ll even give Batsy a run for his money!”

Pops looked at her in shock, then his signature smile came back full force, “That’s the spirit Dolly!”, he pinched her cheek again. He got that sad look in his eyes again, “The Doc did mention that in order for your lungs to fully recover, you’d have to stay in your room for a bit longer than we originally thought.”

She was gonna be stuck in her room……..N-no problem!She’s been in here for so long, it doesn’t matter. She’s been in here for a while now! She can take it! Just until she’s all better.

“Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m Marinette Dolly! Daughter of the Joker! As long as you’re here with me Pops, I’ll be fine.”, Marinette smiled . “It’s just gonna be a little longer until I can make Mom pay.”

Pops is such a worrywart. He’s such a good dad.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Four and a half months. It’s been four and a half long and boring months that she’s been stuck in her room! She threw her head against her pillow, and propped herself up on her elbows and pushed up so she was able to sit up. After the third month was over, she was out of the full body cast, and into a wheelchair, with her left arm in a sling. Doctors orders! Pops says it for the best, she has to get better so that she can go and be his partner! No longer his sidekick! So that they can make Mom pay for what she did to her! Oh that will be so much **FUN**! I wonder if we can crush her under a building too! Or better yet have help just out of earshot so that she can keep crying out for help that will never come! 

She felt so insanely happy at the thought of revenge, that she started to giggle. The giggles turned to chuckles, which then went on into full blown cackles. She had laughed until her sides hurt and she couldn’t breathe. Oh that would be so much fun. Sighing from her wistful thoughts she gently began scooting over to her nearby wheelchair. She grabbed her right leg and kinda tossed it over onto her chair. Then came her left leg, and with that she began slowly lifting her body with her arms, and bringing her wheelchair closer. Then when she had enough confidence, she threw herself onto her seat. Taking a deep breath, she fixed her legs so that she was sitting properly. 

She then rolled over to her designing desk. ‘Better get started on Pops’ new suit. He has to look his best when we take over Gotham.’, she thought. Reaching over to her bookshelf, she went to grab her sketchbook. She froze.

Her sketchbook. She looked over at it, it’s leather hide staring at her, the green ribbon she used as a bookmark waiting for her to grab it. Her fingers brushed it and Marinette thought back to when she got it. 

_It was handed to her in a bright pink wrapping, with a magenta bow on top of it. The little tag read; To:Mari From: Manny_

_Happy 12th Birthday to my best friend! I love you and your creative mind. May you have an amazing birthday month that’s almost as amazing as you._

_Manny smiled at her and said, “Go on Mari, open it.” Marinette opened it with no hesitation and when she saw the leather cover, she grinned ear to ear and immediately started flipping through the pages. It was blank, completely blank, no lines, and it was hers. She ran up to Manny and enveloped him in a big hug. “I LOVE IT!”, she squealed. “Thank you Manny!” He smiled and pulled out a green ribbon, “So you never lose your page. And everytime you see this ribbon, I hope you think of me, and our friendship.” Marinette smiled and hugged him even tighter._

Blinking, Marinette was now back in her wheelchair, clutching her sketchbook tightly in her arm, and silently sobbing into the leather. Manny. 

Pops did tell her that she had run off with Auntie Ivy and Manny. She had heard it, and it never really sunk in, until she saw that ribbon. That stupid ribbon. 

What was wrong with her? She was funny. She was sweet. She was kind. She was loyal. She loved them. And they said they loved her. 

So why did they leave? Did she do something wrong? 

When she felt familiar arms wrapping around her, she stopped crying to register what was going on. Turning her head slightly, she saw a familiar head of green hair resting on her shoulder, and she just cried more. Pops then began repeating “Daddy’s here. Daddy will always be here for you.” as he rocked her gently, her tears lessening with every minute of his comfort. 

Even when the whole world is gone, Pops will always be by her side.

He’s such a good dad.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

“Doc says that your lungs are getting better, but it is important that you get as much sleep as possible.”, Pops spoke as he patted her head. Marinette pouted but nodded her head.

“At least the other cast is finally coming off.”, she said, a soft smile graced her lips. 

“Yes, but how are your legs? You said that you had some feeling in your thighs right?”, he asked.

“I thought I did, but…I was wrong.”, Marinette frowned. 

“No matter, my dear. The doc said it could take a long time, but your legs will heal. One day.”, Pops pinched her cheek. 

“Of course, soon I’ll be as good as new!”, she grinned, and fist pumped with her good arm. Then she looked him in the eye, “H-hey Pops…Can I see Bud and Lou, It’s been so long and I miss them.”

He frowned, “Dolly, I’m sorry but I have some bad news.” Marinette gasped, tears were beginning to form in her eyes, fearing the worst for her brothers. “Bud and Lou, they weren’t looking so good. So I had Punch and Judy take them to the vet. Unfortunately, Bud and Lou both caught some type of bacterial infection. I’m afraid that if they came to see you, why’d you only get worse. Do you understand?”

Marinette pouted, and looked at the ground, then nodded her head, “Yes Pops, I understand.”

“Oh Dolly.”, He lifted her head by her chin, “Don’t be like that, it’s just until the three of you are all better. Smile!”, he grinned happily. And so Marinette did, she smiled and pushed all the negative thoughts to the back of her mind. 

Pops is right, it’s just until we’re all better. He’s such a good dad.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette woke up to the sound of someone knocking on her door, pushing her covers so that she could sit up in her bed and groggily wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Pops?”, she yawned. 

“Yes, Dolly. It’s me.”, He said through the door. 

“Come in, it’s open.”, she smiled, as she tried to stay awake.

“I can’t come inside Dolly.”, Pops said, his voice hoarse like he’d been screaming for a long time. 

Marinette glared at the door, “Why not?”

“I- I’m sick, Dolly.” Marinette gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. “Bud and Lou’s infection, it jumped species, and if I go inside your room, I’m putting your health at even more risk. I came to let you know that I won’t be able to visit you until I’m well again. I’m sorry. Goodnight Princess.” 

Marinette understood, and gave a weak, “Good night, Daddy. Hope you get well soon.” 

It’s for the best. Pops knows best. He’s sick and doesn’t want to get her sick. She’ll just be completely alone for who knows how long. This is for the good of everyone. He’s such a good dad.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

After two weeks Pops said that the doctor told him that whatever Bud and Lou gave him was completely out of his system. But! He should still get a lot of rest! But instead Pops was throwing himself into medical books trying to find a treatment to help her legs. She had hope that one day she’d be healed up and start pranking Gotham soon, but after 6 months. She had accepted the reality that she would never walk again. She sighed and pulled her comforter over her shoulders and snuggled into her mattress. 

**_Marinette giggled as she pressed the gas pedal of her candy kart and suddenly she was off! She passed the batmobile, the giant dancing cow, and was almost at the finish line. Then she heard it, the familiar cackle of Pops. She turned her head and saw Pops waving a sign over his head that said, “Go Dolly!” Marinette smiled, but before she could look away she appeared. Harley Quinn was right behind Pops, wielding a giant axe, preparing to strike his neck. No longer was she dressed in her usual clown costume, she was now dressed in a black cloak, with a raggedy black dress. Her hair was loose and tangled, then Marinette saw her eyes, glowing an eerie shade of green and then she smiled at Marinette. “Hey Babygirl!” And then she swung her blade. Pops was smiling so carefree as he shook his sign, until his eyes went wide as his head was separated from his body. Marinette started to scream._ **

“DADDY!”, Marinette shot up out of bed like a bullet. Her eyes were full of tears as she began screaming and screaming. Her nerves were on fire as the image of Pops severed head burned in her mind. Then she heard the banging on the door, ‘She’s here! She’s here! She’s here!’, was all that was going on in Marinette’s head as she pulled the covers up to hide herself, she clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle her tears. Then her door burst open, making Marinette jump and begin crying more.

“Dolly?”, Pops’ voice appeared directly in front of her, and Marinette realized that he was here. He was fine, he was alive. She threw off her blanket and tossed herself at him, Pops catching her and she clung to him. Her forehead resting against his shoulder as she cried, and he let her. Just holding her close and whispering, “Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here.” 

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette sat by her desk staring at the blank book that mocked her with its emptiness. ‘Bitch.’, was all that she thought. It was a new sketchbook given to her by Pops, because she can’t even look at her old one without feeling unbridled rage. So which is what led her to her current predicament. She was tempted to just slam the book but that would be letting the damn book win. She scoffed and rolled away from her desk. She could hear the book laughing at her as she made her way to her bed. She looked over her shoulder and flipped it off. 

Fucking book. She sighed and began rolling over to her bed, but then there was a knock at her door. Marinette immediately lit up, “Pops!”, she cheered. 

Then her door burst open to reveal Pops, looking like he hadn’t slept in a while, in his arms were numerous scrolls. “D-Dolly!”, he gasped, he dropped the scrolls and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Uh yeah, Pops?”, she asked nervously. He was smiling ear-to-ear, and looked happier than she’s seen him in months. It was nice, but kinda…creepy.

“I found something! Something that could help you walk again!”, He grinned. Oh Pops, he’s lost it. Marinette tried to be excited, but she had accepted that the likelihood of her walking again was slim. 

“Pops…What are you talking about?”, She asked. Pops immediately grabbed one of his scrolls, this one looking worse for wear and slightly old. He opened it to reveal faded drawings, one looked like a man getting stabbed, getting shot, and various other forms of injury. Then there was a drawing of the man being thrown into a green lake? Then him walking out of the lake with no injuries. “A green lake?”

“What? No!”, Pops said as he closed the scroll, he grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. “It’s called the Lazarus Pit. It was said to have been blessed by the gods of creation and destruction, to have the power to revive those on death’s door. Even bring back the dead!”

“Pops. You can’t be serious. That’s just a myth”, Marinette said. “Where would we even find one?” Pops gave her a look that said, ‘trust me’.

“I know a guy,”, Pops said, “He’s a business partner, he said he’d be willing to let me use his Lazarus Pit.” He let go of her, took a few steps away from her and turned so that his back was facing her. “In exchange for a more potent type of Joker venom, something about building immunity for him and his men.”

“Pops y-you can’t be serious!”, Marinette rolled over to him, “Something like that all for a fairy tale?”

“IT’S NOT A FAIRY TALE!”, Pops spun around and for the first time in her life. Marinette understood why so many people in Gotham were so afraid of him. The crazed look in his eye, his manic grin, and his imposing figure. The sight of him, made Marinette shrink in on herself and look anywhere but his eyes. 

Then he realized what he was doing and he looked so scared, and so remorseful that Marinette, “Dolly. I-I’m so sorry. I just want to see you running around with Bud and Lou like you used to…I’ve seen this thing…Marinette, it’s the real deal. And all I want is for my little girl to be her happy old self again.” Pops then fell to his knees, crying into his hands, his shoulders shaking with every wretched sob that came out of him.

“P-pops, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you so upset.”, Marinette said. Pops looked up at her with tear filled eyes, and she saw the pain in his eyes. “I didn’t want you to get your hopes up in case it doesn’t work.” the ‘Or in case it’s a hoax’ was left unsaid. She wrapped her arms around him and just hugged him.

“I’ll get started on the new venom and you…you get some sleep.”, Pops said. 

Marinette nodded. “Yes Pops.” Pops left her room and Marinette didn’t see him for a long time. She spent days listening to sounds of crashing and yelling. It was frustrating and heartbreaking to know that he was doing this all for her when it might not even work. 

Then one day, Marinette woke up to Pops shaking her, “Dolly! It’s time!” Marinette groggily rubbed her eyes and was barely able to get a word in before she was roughly grabbed and placed in her wheelchair. “We’re going on a trip!” 

“Trip?”, She repeated. ‘What does he-oh. We’re going to visit his business partner’, she smiled and tried not to look nervous. Pops didn’t seem to notice, he was too busy pushing her chair to a nearby small planeThis one plain and boring, seriously why doesn’t have Pops face? Oh they can’t let Batsy know. The sight of the plane made her nervous, and she tried to ignore it as she waited for help to get in their ride. Punch and Judy were the ones to help her in the plane, seeing as Pops was yelling something at the pilot. Thing is, they took her out of her chair, she tried to protest, but they ignored her. She watched them leave it behind and she wanted to scream at them to grab it, but she didn’t.They made sure she was secure and sat down in their seats.Pops came aboard, then they all took off. 

After a very long nap, Marinette woke up to the subtle turbulence of their landing and wiped her eyes of her sleep and was gently grabbed by Judy. Who carried her princess style off the plane, she crossed her arms and was silently wishing for her chair. 

She took notice of where exactly they landed. They were on a really tall mountain judging by the height of the clouds, and they were in a compound surrounded by ninjas.Then she noticed a group of people not dressed like ninjas waiting for them all to get situated; an old man dressed in white armor, and a younger old man dressed in black armor with a green cape, a woman dressed like a super spy, and a boy who looked around her age dressed in black armor with a red cape.

Pops walked over to the younger old man,“Ra’s al ghul!”, Pops smiled and did an over the top bow. “Thank you for letting me do this!” The man, Ra’s al ghul, nodded and bowed slightly to Pops. 

This man, he had an air of intimidation, and he was glowing? He was glowing! The man was glowing! Why was he glowing? It was a sickly green color with a touch of red and black in some places. Seeing as how no one was responding to his glowing nature Marinette chose to ignore it. Then he turned his gaze onto her, and suddenly she felt like she was being stared down by the King of Beasts. “So this is your daughter? Girl, what is your name?”, he spoke with such conviction and power, it took Marinette all of her power not to cower.

“Marinette. Marinette Dolly Levi.”,she responded with a smile. Not one for show or for intimidation, but a smile so that she can trick herself into believing that she wasn’t scared. Thank god for Judy carrying her.

Ra’s al ghul didn’t respond, instead he turned to Pops and nodded. Then Pops pulled out a briefcase and opened it, to reveal several vials of the new more potent Joker venom. Ra’s grabbed a vial, smirked and stepped to the side, “Damian.”

The boy stepped forward, “Yes, Grandfather.” Oh boy, this should be fun. Note the sarcasm. “Take Ms. Dolly Levi down to the Lazarus Pit, while I discuss plans with her father.” Wait what?! It’s real?! Judy walked forward only to be stopped by the woman pulling out a sword. 

“Only the girl may go.”, She spoke as she sheathed her sword, Marinette didn’t know how to feel. Judy and her looked at Pops, and he turned to Ra’s al ghul.

“Can’t Judy just carry her there? I didn’t bother to bring her mode of transportation seeing as how she won’t need it anymore.”, Pops grinned, his business partner didn’t respond.

He merely turned back to Damian and said, “You will carry her there.” Double what?! It’s one thing if it’s Judy, she’s known the woman since birth, but some random kid?! Oh hell no. But Pops gave her a look, and she kept quiet. She begrudgingly let Damian take her from Judy’s arms. Once he had her securely in his arms, he looked at Ra’s and nodded. Then he and Marinette walked away further into the compound.

Eventually they reached a doorway, she could feel Damian hold her closer as they walked into a cave with stairs. “The Lazarus Pit isn’t much farther.”, he said. Marinette didn’t respond, she was more focused on the fact that if this went well she would walk again.“If you don’t mind me asking-” Marinette cut him off, “I could walk until my mother dropped a building on me, leaving me with no feeling from the waist down.” They were silent for the rest of the way down the stairs.

When they reached the bottom, Marinette got a strange sense of deja vu. The sudden darkness, with the only lightsource being a mysterious green glow. Then she saw it, she doubted it’s existence and a part of her still does, but part of her prayed that this would work. If not for her, for Pops. “Can you throw me in? If I don’t resurface, come and get me, okay?”, She asked

“As you wish.”, He replied, then he tossed her into the air. Marinette squeaked in surprise and immediately held her breath as she hit the water. Then she felt like she could do anything, she was so full of energy she shot up out of the water cheering and stepped out. Rubbing her eyes she froze, and looked down. She was standing. She was standing! She stepped forward and forgot how to breathe, she was walking. She looked up and met Damian’s eyes, “I-I’m walking! I can walk again!” She giggled excitedly, ran over and took Damian’s hand. “Thank you so much! Come on we have to go tell Pops!”

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Freedom’s never been so sweet in her life! She was out of her room! She was out! She was walking, she was running. She was free! She was strolling around in the main part of Pops’ new hideout and she was laughing the entire time. “FREEDOM!”, she shouted. Bud and Lou laughed as they walked alongside her in her victory march, they were celebrating their freedom too after all. Then they started sniffing the air a few paces behind her, making Marinette stop completely. 

She turned herself around so that she was properly facing them, “Guys? What’s the matter?”she went over to them slowly, then they started to walk away, snouts to the ground, sniffing for what caught their attention. Like bloodhounds, they began to track…to track whatever it was they were tracking. Feeling curious, Marinette followed them around until they reached a door. It was a plain wooden door. Nothing special about it.

But then why did they lead her here? Bud and Lou began pawing at the door, tails wagging as they started to whine and look at her expectantly. Like the little kids she used to come across at toy stores, begging and pleading with their parents to buy them the latest superman action figure.

“You guys want to go inside?”, she asked, slowly getting closer to the door, her brothers moving out of her way. ‘I swear if I find a skeleton, I’m gonna break somebody’s bones.’, she thought. Slowly grabbing the doorknob, she twisted it and pushed. ‘What am I doing?! This could be Pops’ torture room for all I know! I might find something I can never unsee down here!’

The door creaked with every little movement and then Bud and Lou just pushed aside her and into the room. “H-hey!”, she shouted. But by then it was too late, her brothers were already inside the room running around. Wincing, she slowly tiptoed inside the room, and felt the wall for the light switch. 

Once she found it, she flipped and instead of being met with torture devices, she found a gym? Looking around the room she found two long balance beams, a treadmill, a wooden dummy that had a picture of Batsy taped to it, and various types of exercise equipment. Moving around the room she came across a very familiar giant mallet. She realized whose room this probably belonged to.

“T-this was _**her**_ gym. Wasn’t it?”, she asked nobody in particular, but still looked at her brothers whose tails were wagging excitedly. “But why would pops keep anything of hers after what she did to us, what she did to me!” She walked closer to a beam, gently stroking the wooden top with a trembling hand. 

She looked to Bud and Lou for some sort of answer. “Why would you bring me here!” she yelled. Immediately, she was feeling guilty when they started to whimper and back away from her. “I-I’m sorry guys. I know you can’t understand but she was the reason why I wasn’t able to play with you guys for a long time. She tried to kill me! She……….I hate **_her_**.”, she growled.

Frowning, she looked back at the beams, tempted to just leave the room until she had an idea. She would make this gym her training center, she looked over at the mallet leaning against a wall. The upside smile mocking her, “Oh Harley, Harley, Harley.” She skipped over to the mallet, and grabbed the handle. The smile and her now eye-to-eye, she smiled sweetly at it,“You tried to kill me, I rose. You left me disabled, I rose. Now I will rise once more, and you will be the one to fall.” She dropped the mallet and walked over to the equipment, hands on her hips she smirked. “I will rise.” 

For Pops. She will rise. 

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette cackled gleefully as she completed her 100th push-up of the day. A month and half after she had found that gym, she was able to do 100 push-ups at once easily! She stood up and looked over at the mallet, “Don’t worry I didn’t forget about you, Harley.” She stalked over to it and grabbed it’s handle. Swinging over her shoulder, Marinette grinned. She looked over at the floor length mirror, admiring herself and her new muscles. ‘Oh me likey!’, Marinette grinned. ‘Maybe I could use this as my weapon! And then smash Harley’s face with it!’

“Dolly?”, Pops’ sudden voice made Marinette freeze, she dropped the mallet and spun around to face a sad looking Pops. “What are you doing?”, he asked confusedly as he walked over to her. 

“I was working out. I have to get ripped if I want a chance at taking Harley Quinn down.”, Marinette said, and gave him a look that said ‘obviously.’ 

“It’s just, with the long pigtails, and the mallet…You looked so much like her, that, I almost thought she was here.”, Pops said, looking dejected.

Marinette froze, his words began repeating over and over in her head. ‘I look like her?’, she thought. 

“Guess I’ll leave you to it then.”, Pops said as he began to walk out the door, “Remember to hydrate, Dolly.” was the last thing he said as he left the gym. 

Marinette turned to the floor length mirror, her own reflection began morphing into that of Harley Quinn. “Hi, Babygirl. Did you miss me?”, the familiar and distorted voice that sounded too much like her whispered in her ear. Marinette watched as the mirror Harley began to step out of the mirror and slowly reached out to grab her. Every nerve in her body was telling her to run, but she couldn’t. She was stuck shaking as the hand got closer and closer until it was now cupping her cheek. “I missed you.” 

Suddenly, Marinette was now responding to what her instincts were telling her as she ran out of the gym and into her room. Slamming the door closed, she rushed over to her designing desk and grabbed a pair of scissors. Pulling at her hair, and looking into her vanity mirror, Harley Quinn looked back at her. So she cut her pig tails in half, but it was still too long. Too much like her. She cut some more. It was still too long. She cut and cut and cut, until Mirror Harley was gone. Then Marinette saw her own reflection again ,scissors in hand, tears streaming down her face, and her hair was now perfect. 

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette peered over the handrail that was the only thing keeping her from falling down into the vat below. ‘It- it’s a really big drop’, she thought. And the chemical vat looks so far. She gulped as she took a step back from the edge. 

“What’s the matter Dolly? You’re not scared now are you?”, Pops asked from behind her. Marinette tensed up, and looked over her shoulder at him.

“S-scared? Who’s scared? I’m not!”, Marinette scoffed. “I-I’m just nervous.” She said while looking back at the edge of the catwalk. 

“Maybe we should come back later then. When you’re ready.”, Pops said, as he walked over to her.

“I am ready!”, Marinette snapped. Immediately she clasped her hands over her mouth, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. It’s just…I’m ready…but what if I screw up? I was a failure as Marionette, what if I’m just as much as a screw up while being Puppet Princess?” She walked back over to the rail, her hands trembling as she held onto the rail. 

“Oh Dolly.”, Pops placed his hand on her shoulder and bent down to her level. Marinette stared him in the eye, and he spoke.“Truth be told, before I fell into that chemical vat. I was… I was weak. Spineless. I was a nobody. When that miracle water touched my skin, I was able to rise up and steal the show. But you, Dolly? You were already so amazing. When I was your age, I didn’t know how to fight, I couldn’t sew a dress from scraps. Heck! I couldn’t do the things that you can even if I tried today. Marionette wasn’t a failure. She was just the first act, the you that didn’t have the know or the how. But now, this is where the show picks up and your performance is gonna blow everybody in Gotham away.”

When Pops’ speech was finished, Marinette wiped away a few stray tears, and gently pushed Pops away. She turned around and faced the edge of the rail, “Let’s make this act a showstopper.” And with that she took a step over the edge and let herself fall. 

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette skipped happily through the busy streets of the middle class area of Gotham. She had just paid a visit to her favorite fabric store and was carrying a bolt of fabric over her shoulder. Don’t look at her like that, she paid for them! It’s her favorite store and she would never steal from Mrs.Whitmore. Poor woman had to deal with an asshole landlord, a cheating husband, and sorry excuses of criminals trying to rob her store. Luckily, a few appearances from Puppet Princess and almost all of Mrs.Whitmore’s problems are solved. Just have to figure out what to do about that landlord. 

Giggling to herself, she continued walking until she made it to the Gotham Hotel, a nice hotel but that’s it, nice. And there were random teens coming out, oh goody. She snorted and began walking past them, when she was grabbed roughly by a hand. ‘Oh this should be fun. Not! Do they know who I am? No, I’m not in costume, they wouldn’t know. Oh well.’, she thought.

She stopped and turned around, and was met by a very pretty girl with olive green eyes, and two sausages for hair smiling at her. “I’m so sorry, but could you direct me to Wayne Tower? We’re going on a tour, and I don’t want to be late to my reunion with my boyfriend, Damian Wayne.”, the girl smiled sweetly. 

‘Oh this is definitely gonna be fun!’, Marinette thought, she faked a look of shock and started to look around nervously. “I don’t know if you’re telling the truth, but you should really keep something like that on the downlow.”, she whispered to the girl. She leaned in closer, held the bolt in between her thighs and said, “You never know who in Gotham is listening in.” Marinette then did a smile expression with her index fingers. 

The poor girl looked horrified for a minute before saying, “You’re right, but my Damiboo would never let any harm come to me.” She held up her right hand, on her ring finger was what Marinette guessed was supposed to be an engagement ring. Except no wedding ring would have a crown with a 16 embedded on the side. 

Marinette faked a look of surprise,“Oh my! Congratulations!”, she smiled at the girl. “Pretty soon, you’re gonna be Mrs.Wayne. That’s so cool!” 

The girl smirked, “Mrs. Lila Wayne. Has a better ring to it than Lila Rossi.” ‘How dumb can one person be? Who gives their name and an obvious lie to a complete stranger.’, Marinette thought while smiling at the girl. 

“Lila! Stop lying to the locals! We know which direction Wayne Tower is in!.”, a sudden shout brought Marinette’s attention onto a bespectacled girl with ombre hair. She stared at Lila with righteous fury, and was glowing red? Marinette blinked and realized that the girl wasn’t glowing, her earrings were, but was no one noticing the obviously glowing earrings!? Seriously, no one saw the red glow! Everyone was looking at the girl, but were they too busy glaring daggers at her to notice her ears were glowing?!

‘Interesting.’, she thought. Lila immediately started to fake cry, Marinette’s done crocodile tears before, she knows what it looks like. 

Smiling, Marinette placed a hand on Lila’s shoulder, making her turn around and face her. Marinette handed her a card that read _Marinette D. Levi, dress designer, matchmaker xxx-xxx-xxxx_ “Give me a call if you want to discuss wedding dress details, or if you need any help while here in Gotham.”, Marinette smiled at her and leaned in and whispered in her ear, “After all you never know when you need a friend in high places.” Marinette stepped away, winked at her and made sure to give Lila the best impression of Pops’ smile.

“Wayne Tower is that big building right there, you can’t miss it. It’s the only building in the city with a giant ‘w’!”, Marinette cheered.

Lila looked so scared, it made Marinette giggle. She then merrily skipped her way home, eagerly waiting to tell Pops about her new toy. ‘This is gonna be sooo much fun!’, she thought with one final look at the group of teens. Pops and her are gonna have a blast!

**________________________________________________________________**


	3. Chapter 3

________________________________________________________________

After a long walk Marinette had made it back home. A.K.A Pops’ brand new hideout, which originally was an old abandoned toy factory. Honestly, it was a miracle that Batsy hadn’t found them yet. But hey, if he’s not even looking for them then should she really care? Shrugging her shoulders she walked over to the secret entrance door, and knocked to the rhythm of Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits. Then it opened slightly to reveal Punch, who was waiting for her to say the password. They both knew that she didn’t have to, but Punch had a job to do.

She smiled and said, “cottontail.” That’s right the password was the name of her beloved stuffed toy that was lost to **_HER_**. She resisted the urge to growl, and tried thinking of puppies, glitter bombs, and rainbows. But all she wanted to do was smash anything that had reminded her of **_HER_**. _**Yes smash. Smash her head with the mallet. Make her scream. Pops can join in too! Then she can get**_ **…** _ **Cottontail**_ **.** _Cottontail_. Cottontail. Suddenly, all her rage had dissipated and she was left feeling happy. 

Cottontail always made her happy. 

Pops had said that he would get her a new Cottontail, but he’s been busy so he hasn’t gotten a replacement bunny. Which is good, nothing could ever replace her beloved bunny. 

Punch nodded, took a step aside and she walked in, “Hey Punch, could you take this to my room, please?”, she asked, gesturing to the bolt of fabric she was carrying. He nodded, and took it from her arms and walked away in the direction of her room. “Thanks a bunch, Punch!” She yelled over her shoulder as she walked towards Pops’ office. 

Did she hear Pops yelling?

The closer she got to the door, the more she heard. Why did she hear arguing? She definitely heard Pops yelling, but she couldn’t make out the words. She recognized Pops’ voice, but there were two distinct voices that she couldn’t put her finger on. Hmm. The door was closed…Arguing…Pops’ office…Pops must be in the middle of planning something! The perfect chance for her to step into the spotlight and make her second debut into the crime world. Hopefully, they can squeeze that into whatever Pops is thinking up.

Giggling, she knocked twice on the door and waited. After a minute or so, the voices died down and she heard her Pops say “It’s open!” Smiling, she opened the door and walked in to see Pops, looking angrily at…Uncle Eddie and Uncle Harvey. Visitors! Yay! But why was Pops yelling? M-maybe they were here to help with whatever Pops was planning? Yeah! That’s it. 

Squealing, she ran over to Uncle Eddie, wrapped her arms around him and placed her head on his chest, “Uncle Eddie! It’s been forever since you’ve come to visit!”, she cheered. 

But he was stiff and unmoving, shouldn’t he be hugging her back by now? She stopped her hug and looked up at him, he was staring at her looking horrified. She asked, “Uncle Eddie? You okay?”

“Yeah Riddler buddy. You’re looking kinda pale. Right, Two-Face?”, Pops’ voice came from behind her, she looked over Uncle Harvey who flinched when their eyes met. He looked away and just kept looking over at Pops. 

“Uncle Harvey?”, he flinched, Mari took a step back and looked at Pops, silently asking him what was going on? Why were they doing this? Why was this happening? Pops smiled at her and gave her a look that said not to worry. Okay then, she won’t worry. She trusts Pops. She looked back at her Uncles and noticed that they were just staring at her. Gee, with the way they were acting you think they thought…that she was dead.

She looked over at Pops who was still smiling “Pops!”, she yelled. He turned to her and said, “Yes Dolly?” 

She glared at him, “Did you forget to tell them that I didn’t kick the bucket?” Pops had a look of realization on his face, and shrugged his shoulders. He smiled like it was no big deal. Yeah no big deal, it’s just most likely her entire family thinks she bit the big one. No wonder she never got any letters! Then again she never really sent any out either. 

But that’s not the point! Marinette was about to yell at him when Uncle Eddie began to do something. He walked over to her, bent down to her level, and looked her in the eyes. She recognized looks of disbelief, relief, and joy. Slowly, he reached his hand out and gently cupped her cheek. His eyes then started looking a bit watery.

“It’s you. It’s really you.”, he said, small tears now streaking down his face. Uncle Harvey snapped out of his trance and followed Eddie’s lead. He bent down to her level and smiled, his bad side’s jagged smile looking less menacing than usual.

“I missed you Princess.”, Uncle Harvey said in his good voice. His bad voice adding, “Don’t go doing that again.”

“Of course it’s me.”, Marinette smiled. Then both of her uncles wrapped her up in a hug and she welcomed the touch. When the hug finally ended, Marinette stood up. She looked to her Uncles said, “I thought Pops would’ve told you that I had lived.” She laughed nervously, “ Although that would explain why no one came to visit me.”

“It was for your own good. We couldn’t have any info spilling to Harley that you were alive.”, Pops spoke up. Marinette watched as he walked over to her, her uncles both quickly moving aside so that Pops could bend down to her level. “I mean, if Harley knew that you were alive. She probably would’ve hunted you down, and heaven forbid, finish the job.”

Marinette froze, the image of **_HER_** standing over her while holding Pops’ severed head flashed in her mind. “ ** _Hey Babygirl_**.”,the familiar voice rang in her ears. Marinette trembled and felt her eyes start to water. She looked at Pops, and saw him wiping a tear from his eye. She threw herself into Pops’ arms. “I’m sorry Pops! I’ll never question your reasons again! I should’ve known you were doing it for my safety.”, she sobbed into his jacket. 

Pops wrapped his arms around her and said, “There, there.” His soft voice made Marinette cry harder. Then Pops gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away so that she could look up at him. “Chin up Dolly, or the crown slips.” 

She quickly wiped away any tears she had and began trying to calm herself down. But her eyes were still watery and her breathing was still a bit labored. “How was the city? Did you have fun?”, Pops asked. His tone was weird, but whatever. It’s Pops, he’s always been a little weird.

Marinette nodded, “Y-yeah!”, She smiled and when he grinned at her she continued, “I think I found a toy that could provide a good laugh! She’s making some very bold claims, and I want to see how it plays out.” Pops smiled at her and ruffled her hair. 

“That sounds…fun.”, he grinned at her, “Now run along, and get ready for dinner.” Marinette nodded and made her way to the door. 

But then she stopped in her tracks, spun around and Marinette smiled, “Oh! What do you think of my hair?” 

Pops looked at her closely, he placed a hand to his chin, “You dyed your hair green?” 

She nodded excitedly, and then pouted, “Well I tried to, but my hair is so dark, it looks more like there’s a green tint to it. I wanted to match you, you know ‘cause I’m your sidekick and all.”

Pops tsked, walked a few steps closer and booped her nose with his finger, “You are my partner, not my sidekick.” Marinette’s eyes widened, partner? Partner! That means she’s equal to him! She felt giddy. She thought of her knocking Harley off her pedestal, taking her spot and then rising until she was right next to Pops. It made her so excited! 

“Partners?! Hell yeah!”, She cheered. She punched the air and ran out the door, and giggled as she skipped happily up the stairs to her room. As she was passing by Bud and Lou’s beds she threw them kisses and couldn’t resist spending a few minutes playing with them. “Bud! Lou! I missed you guys!”, she cooed as she sat down with them. “It was such a long day!” They gave her kisses and she couldn’t help the smile on her face. “Oh you guys are the best brothers ever!” She rubbed her face against theirs. As much as she wanted to stay with them, she had to get ready for dinner. She stood up and her heart broke when they whined. 

“I’ll be back after dinner, okay boys?”, they pouted and she frowned. “I know. I’m sorry…What if I snuck you guys some steak after dinner.” They laughed and their tails were wagging excitedly. “It’s settled then, I’ll bring you guys steak 

She threw the doors open and spun around in the room that had once been her prison so long ago.She sighed contentedly, “This’ll be so much fun.”, she smiled, then her eyes landed on Harley the mallet. Harley’s smile stared back at her, “You knew this day was coming. So don’t give me that look!”, she grabbed the mallet roughly by it’s handle.She growled, “This just goes to show that I’ll be the better villain than you! I’m worth more! I’m Pops’ partner! Y-you were just a henchman!”

Still Harley the mallet smiled, the sight of it was beginning to piss her off. So she chucked it out the door of her room. The crash of the mallet hitting something as it landed made her jump, huffing she plopped herself down on her vanity and pulled out her make-up and face paint. It’s true she’s so pale that she doesn’t need the white cover-up, but it helps her hide any identifying blemishes like her freckles. Plus it makes her eyes pop!

She blew a kiss at her reflection, and smiled when her movements were copied. She smiled at herself, and then she noticed it. Her smile. W-was her smile always so fake looking? M-maybe it’ll look more genuine when she and Pops hit the town, or whatever he was planning with her uncles. Yeah! That’s it. 

Or she’s just overthinking it. Yeah that seems like the more reasonable option. There was nothing wrong with her smile, she’s just a bit nervous about reentering the spotlight. 

Just as Marinette was about to change into something for dinner, her phone vibrated. She unlocked it and was shocked to see a text from an unknown number. It’s most likely a client. ‘Who knew I’d be so popular?’, she thought to herself. She shrugged and clicked on the text. 

**_Unknown number:_** Hey, this is Lila Rossi 

_**Unknown number:**_ Damian Wayne’s fiance? 

**_Unknown number:_** Your card said you’re a dress designer, but I’m assuming you also make them. My class is going to the Wayne Gala in a few weeks. I was hoping you could make me a dress since we’re friends.

Marinette thought it over. Lila’s an obvious liar. She is on a class trip. Most likely, Lila can’t pay for the services. It would be bad for business if she made a free dress for a girl who is obviously lying. It would make Marinette D. Levi seem like a gullible fame seeking idiot. Unless…She said that it was a gift.A gift for a girl she thought was a friend. She doesn’t even have to make her a new dress, why waste such valuable fabric on her. Just find an old dress that a previous client never paid for and adjust it to Lila. Maybe the peacock dress. This will just be a long game of dress up.

Smiling, she typed her response:

**_Me:_** You assume correct!

**_Me:_** Of course! I think I have just the dress for you. All I would need to do is adjust it to your size.

**_Unknown number:_** Oh that sounds so nice! 😌 I knew it was fate for us to have met! Damiboo will be so happy!

**_Me:_** How do you feel about birds? Specifically peacocks?

Marinette grinned as she walked over to her closet. It was kept in a protective sleeve and was mostly forgotten in her clothes. She grabbed it and slipped it out of its sleeve. Finally it saw the light of day again, The Peacock Dress, one of her first commissions. It seemed like the perfect dress for Lila.

The client had been meaning to pay for it, but then they got caught up in a Superman fight while in Metropolis. Their family didn’t want it because it brought up memories, but paid for her time and services, but never paid for the dress. “Keep it”, they told her. So she did.

Why was she giving this to Lila? Such a precious dress, maybe she should send a picture and-

Her phone beeped, she unlocked it.

_**Unknown number:**_ ❤️❤️❤️ I love peacocks! It’s my favorite bird! How did you know?

Marinette’s heart sank, she looked at the dress. The client would’ve wanted the dress to have been worn. But not by Lila. Was she taking this game too far? Or was she taking it too seriously? 

N-no. It’s just a game with a toy. That’s all

She stroked the embroidered feathers on the shoulder, the client had been such a nice person. A light that had been taken too soon. She narrowed her eyes, those damn so called heroes. Not caring of the world they destroy in their quest for “justice”. She frowned.

She sighed and put the dress back in it’s sleeve. She put on a coat and rushed back to Pops’ office. She popped her head in and surprisingly scared her uncles. “Popsicle! I’m going back out! Meeting with a client!”, she said, and then ran out the door. 

She heard him yell, “B-but Dolly! Judy made you your favorite!” as she ran back into the outside world.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

“Smile, darn you, smile.”, Marinette sang softly, “Everybody loves to grin. Follow my lead, recite my creed and smile!” 

She skipped merrily to her destination, The Wayne Hotel, a.k.a where Lila’s class was staying. The dress she promised Lila was safely tucked away in a protective sleeve, which she carried via hanger. Honestly, the dress was too pretty and too nice for Lila, but isn’t that what you do with toys? You dress them up and pretend they’re something else?..Because that’s all she is to her, a toy, something for her to play with until she’s bored! She doesn’t need another “friend” that will just leave her behind to die under a crumbling building!

Sighing, she entered the building and then she heard someone say, “Please hold the do-” Marinette spun around and saw the girl with the glowing earrings running toward her, “ Hey! You’re the girl from earlier!” 

Marinette smiled, “Yup! That’s me!” Throwing a thumb pointing at herself, which flawlessly turned into her extending her hand out. “My name’s Marinette!” 

The girl smiled and took her hand, “I’m Alya, it’s nice to officially meet you!” Then Alya’s eyes traveled to the dress and her eyes lit up. “Oooh what’s that?” 

Marinette perked up, “It’s a dress commission for…a client.” Judging by the girl’s previous response to Lila’s lies, it was obvious she wouldn’t be pleased if she said the dress was for Lila. 

“Client? Oh you’re working! What’s the name of the company? My class is going to the Wayne Gala in a few weeks so I’m kind of in the market for a dress. Our class representative didn’t bother to let us know beforehand.” Alya said, her tone becoming a little irritated towards the end. 

“MDL Boutique! The DL stands for don’t keep us on the downlow! Spread the word!”, she grinned excitedly, meanwhile Alya stared at Marinette with a confused look on her face. It was so funny and so adorable, it made Marinette giggle. 

“That’s what happens when you have talent and everyone can see it!”, She winked, and handed Alya her business card. “Pretty soon my name will be all over Gotham! Marinette D. Levi, dress designer, dress maker, and matchmaker!” she cheered with the biggest smile. 

It was nice for Marinette D.Levi to have a dream to aspire for, even if it was unlikely for it to ever come true. Soon she’ll officially debut as Puppet Princess and she’ll be Pops’ partner! A-and that’s for the best, who needs work? All work and no play would just make her dull. Right?

Then Alya snorted, gaining Marinette’s attention, “The “D” wouldn’t happen to be for Dolly would it? I used to love that movie so much when I was younger!” Marinette beamed, Alya was now the second person to get the reference in her name.

She laughed, “My po-apa is a comedian of sorts. He loves a good joke, and since his nickname for me is “Dolly” I figured it would be a good tie in to my love for him! Ya know?”

Alya smiled, “that’s so sweet! My dad’s a zookeeper and he takes care of all the animals.” Before Marinette could respond, her phone beeped, she pulled it out. 

**_Pants on fire:_** Are you here yet? My room’s on the 12th floor

**_Pants on fire:_** Text me when you get here😁

Marinette frowned, she put her phone away and looked to Alya. “Sorry, my client is expecting me.” When Alya nodded, Marinette continued, “You have my card. If you want to ask about a dress or whatever while you’re here in Gotham, feel free to give me a call.”

Alya smiled, “Of course! Thank you so much!” Marinette extended her hand for a farewell handshake and then Alya pulled her in for a hug. Marinette froze, she’s hugging her? Without her asking for one? And it felt…nice, kind of heartwarming? Slowly Marinette brought her hands up and returned the hug.

A few seconds later, Alya pulled away and grinned at her excitedly, “It was so nice to meet you. I will be sure to give you a call later!” Then she winked, her glowing earrings were so bright that they illuminated around Alya like a halo. Then Alya walked away towards a blonde boy and a bespectacled boy in a red cap, leaving a star struck Marinette behind. 

“Y-yeah! I’ll pick it up!”, Marinette exclaimed excitedly, maybe certain people weren’t toys. Maybe they were friends. She smiled and it felt right. Friends. She has a friend! She ignored the flashes of Manny’s face as she looked at the retreating form of Alya. 

Manny wasn’t a friend, he was…he was… then memories of their time together were all that she could think about. _Them laughing at something that one of them had said. Singing along to cheesy pop songs that came on the T.V. Them chasing each other around either from anger or a game of tag. The moments they shared planting little flowers in his garden. Lying around and watching cartoons. Those rare minutes he would become a human pin cushion for her growing fashion designer dream._

Then the moment they officially had become friends was brought up.

_“I don’t usually play with girls, but you don’t look like you have cooties. So I guess we’ll be friends.”, He had said as he looked at her with a cautious look._

_“I usually never play with anyone besides Cottontail!”, she grinned at him, she extended her hand out towards him, “Do you wanna be my friend Sir Poop head?”_

_He grinned back at her, “Yes Princess Dumb butt!”_

Okay…Manny had been a friend, but then he left her to die under a crumbling building. Last she checked friends don’t do that! So when did he stop being her friend? And how can she keep that from happening…with Alya.

Are they even friends? Maybe acquaintances, yeah. Not friends yet, just acquaintances. She smiled and began her trek to the elevator.

**_Me:_** I’ll be there soon

Crap! She forgot to ask her why her earrings were glowing! Oh well, she could ask her next time she saw her.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Here she was, Lila’s room. Was it too late to turn back? Lila still hadn’t replied, or heard her knocking. Speaking of which she’s knocked three times in the last ten minutes. Was Lila here or not? Sighing, she twisted the door knob, and it was open? ‘I swear if I find a dead body in that room I will scream and sic Bud and Lou on the killer!’, she thought as she walked into the room.

“Yes of course he is, Mama!”, Lila’s voice appeared. “He wants to take me shopping to all the finest stores in Gotham! I told him that he shouldn’t feel obligated to do that, but he insisted on treating me like a princess! Luckily I managed to convince him to take me to a nice restaurant instead. The Midnight Paradise!” Lila paused to let her mom talk and Marinette took this chance to walk further into Lila’s hotel room. “Yes that restaurant! The food was to die for! Also, I think we saw the Wayne family while we were there. Adrien offered to introduce me to Bruce Wayne at the Wayne Gala.” 

Marinette blinked, ‘Who the hell is Adrien? I know she’s not dating Damian Wayne but…Keep your lies straight! Unless…This Adrien is a classmate of hers, which would explain why she was lying about Damian Wayne.’ Marinette was now staring at the back of Lila’s head, ‘This is going to be a messy game.’

“Oh…Okay. Okay. Goodnight Mama. I love you.”, Lila said. She gave a few air kisses and ended the call. She threw her phone on the bed and gave a loud, “UGH! She sure loves to hear herself talk.” 

“That’s a bit harsh wouldn’t you say?”, Marinette spoke up.

Watching Lila jump was absolutely hilarious, she spun around and various emotions flashed in her eyes. Marinette recognized shock, fear, annoyance, anger, and fake joy. ‘Impressive. The girl can really act.’, Marinette wanted to snort. 

“Marinette! Oh you’re here!”, She smiled, Marinette immediately saw through the act. “Why didn’t you text me you were here?”

“The door was open. And I did.”, Marinette smiled, “Multiple times actually.”

Lila pulled out her phone, and Marinette saw her grimace right before it turned into a look of guilt, “Oops! My bad! I’m so sorry Marinette! It’s just my mama called and I guess I was distracted.” She pouted, “Can you forgive me?”

Marinette smiled, “It’s fine. I understand completely!” Marinette waved her hand, “Anyhow, I brought the dress.” Lila’s eyes widened and the bluenette fought the urge to roll her eyes and kept smiling. She freed the dress from its sleeve and Lila lit up. 

“I-I love it!”, Lila squealed. Marinette studied Lila, for the first time since she’s met this girl. This is the first time she looks genuinely happy. Is it that she’s happy to get a dress like this, or that she “fooled” me into giving it to her? Lila looked to Marinette, “Do I really get to keep this dress?” Marinette nodded. Lila smiled so wide, she looked like a child in those christmas movies. Then the smile disappeared, Lila looked a bit serious and now stared Marinette in the eye. 

“What’s the catch?”, she asked with an angry look in her eye. Marinette shook her head, and handed Lila the dress. She smiled, “I wouldn’t say catch. I mean I’m just doing a friend a favor after all.” 

“You want me to do you a favor as well?”, Lila asked, she laid the dress out on her bed and crossed her arms. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” She looked back at the dress, “What do you have in mind?”

“I was hoping you could get me into the Wayne Gala. As your plus one?”, Marinette smiled sheepishly. 

Lila smiled, Marinette saw the look of smug victory in her eyes. “Of course! What are friends for?” Marinette smiled and cheered! 

“Oh thank you! Thank you so much Lila!”, Marinette extended her arms out and Lila pulled her in for a hug. “I should be thanking you, you’re giving me this dress for free after all!”, she responded happily.

Marinette smirked into her shoulder, then she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She pulled away from Lila and unlocked her phone.

_**Popsicle:** _Almost time for curfew. Come home now!

Marinette pouted, “Sorry Lila. My dad wants me to start heading home before it gets too dark outside. Lila’s eyes held a look of annoyance, hidden away by her pouting face. “I’ll be back tomorrow with my tools, do the proper measurements and adjust it to your figure!”, Marinette waved as she walked out the door.

“Okay then! Goodnight Marinette!”, Lila cheered. “Wait! You forgot the dress!” 

“I’ll be back tomorrow. Goodnight Lila!”, Marinette continued walking down the hall.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

It times like this she’s happy to have an alter ego. Free to walk around without the threat of someone calling the cops. Sweet little Marinette Dolly Levi was nothing like the fabulous Puppet Princess. Oh well, better go home and sneak her brothers some steak.

She walked merrily towards the entrance doors and was about to take her first step out the door. “Marinette?”, a voice said, and she froze. 

She then spun around and was met with a familiar pair of emerald eyes. “Damian?”

Apparently she’s more recognizable than she thought.

________________________________________________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Manny’s reason for becoming friends with Mari was kinda based off my brief best friendship with a boy from K-1st grade. Now that I’m thinking about it, that was the weirdest friendship I ever had. We mostly just tried to gross each other out with dumb nicknames. What even was K-1st?


	4. Chapter 4

**________________________________________________________________**

“Damian?”, she repeated. Damian Al Ghul stood in a black turtleneck and jeans a few feet away from her. She walked over to him and the closer she got the more she noticed that he grew a bit since she’d last seen him. ‘He’s still a shrimp though’, she snorted. She was now standing in front of him, sure she hadn’t grown much since she last saw him but she was now 5’5. It was kinda funny how she was towering over him. She poked his cheek, he glared at her and slapped her hand away. He’s really here. 

“So, whatcha- I mean what are you doing here? In Gotham I mean.”, she asked. Rubbing her poor hand. ‘Ouch!’, she thought dryly.

“If I told you, I might have to kill you.”, he said in a joking tone, a slight smirk on his face. 

“I finally got you to make a joke and that’s what you do?”, Marinette snorted, “Anyone tell you, your sense of humor is a bit twisted?” 

He rolled his eyes, “Says the daugh-.” He stopped himself mid sentence, they both knew what he was going to say. But they weren’t alone. Just random extras around them. Not even toys. Although, it’s really bad for business if someone overheard MDL was the daughter of the Joker. She snorted and walked out the door.

“The daughter of a great comedian.”, she smiled over her shoulder as she descended the small flight of stairs. Once she was on the sidewalk, she stopped and spun around. “Well, it was nice to see you Dami. But Daddy says I have to be home by curfew.” She waved and turned back around and started walking away. 

“Wait! Marinette!”, Damian’s voice said rather loudly, she turned her head to look over her shoulder. Seeing Damian Al Ghul dressed as Steve Jobs running toward her made her laugh a bit. “I’ll escort you home!” He said in his serious voice. She thought it over. Damian Al Ghul, he knows who she is. Who her Pops is. He’s the grandson of Pops’ business partner. What’s the harm in him walking her home? 

“Why not?”, she smiled. He nodded and together they walked in silence. It reminded her of him taking her down to the Lazarus Pit. Except this time, he’s not carrying her like a princess. “Hey Damian, what were you doing in the Wayne Hotel?”, she asked. 

“I thought I said if I told you, I’d have to kill you.”, he said in that same joking tone. ‘He smiled! I think? Was that a smile?’, she thought. 

Marinette chuckled, “Yeah right. Then you’d risk our families going to war.” She smiled and Damian got this weird look on his face. She was tempted to ask him, but he probably wouldn’t have told her anything. So she didn’t acknowledge it. They walked in silence, the tension a bit thick.

After a few blocks Marinette noticed they were passing a grocery store. Quickly, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along with her. “Oh! That reminds me! I have to pick up some steak.” She smiled at him. 

He gave her a confused look, “Steak?”, he repeated. She hummed in agreement, they entered the store, “for my brothers! I promised them some steak before I left so now I have to get them some.”

“You have brothers?”, he asks. Marinette giggles, she scans the isles and spots the frozen meat section. Once again she pulls Damian along with her. 

“Yup!”, she cheered. “Actually, they were Pops’ anniversary present to…you know who. I was raised with them.” Damian had a clueless but intrigued look so Marinette continued. “ Well, they’re the…” she stopped to look around and make sure there was no one around her, “hyenas.”, she whispered in his ear. She let his arm go and started looking through the store’s selection of steaks.

“So what were you doing in Wayne Hotel?”, he asked. Marinette didn’t bother turning to look at him. 

“If I told you, I might have to kill you.”, she repeated his earlier words, mimicking his serious tone. He scoffed, so she added,“Just kidding! I was there for work!” She read the labels on the steak. 

Sirloin, T-bone, Flank, Tri-tip, Rib-eye. So many choices! She pouted, her brothers weren’t picky but which one should she get them? “Work?”, she heard Damian ask. She nodded, and pulled out her card and threw it at him. She assumed he caught it based on how she didn’t hear anything. 

“MDL Boutique. The “DL” stands for don’t keep us on the downlow.”, she replied nonchalantly. Damian didn’t respond, ‘He’s probably reading the card’, she thought. Fudge it! She’ll get them Sirloin! She grabbed two packages and saw Damian staring at her card. Then he looked her dead in the eye. 

“You…run a business? No, I believe the better question is you’re a matchmaker? ”, he asked, a confused look on his face. Marinette looked at him, “Well, I am certified,” She placed a finger to her chin, “Soooo…yes.” She smiled sheepishly.

Damian shakes his head, and chuckles slightly, “Why? How are you certified?” She shushed him with a finger, then walked over to the cash register. He sputtered, “Marinette Dolly Levi!”He groaned and headed over to the candy isle. She giggled and looked at the cashier. It was a blonde lady in her early twenties who looked amused by Marinette and Damian, she gave Marinette an delighted look. 

“Your boyfriend looks a little embarrassed.”, she winked, “What did you do? Give him a hickey?” Marinette didn’t know how to respond. Damian wasn’t her boy friend. But he was a boy she was almost friends with. So almost boyfriend? Also what the heck is a hickey? The girl laughed, most likely at her lack of response. “You’re so adorable!” Now that made her face heat up, she knew she was cute, but adorable? Marinette looked anywhere but the girl as she loaded her steaks onto the conveyor belt.

“You’re buying me this in retribution, Levi!”, Damian hissed as he slammed a chocolate bar on the conveyor belt. The cashier looked a little amused, and Marinette just placed it with her steaks. “Now please explain to me how you are a certified matchmaker?”, Damian grit his teeth. 

“I took a course, and then I graduated with flying colors!”, she said nonchalantly. “I even have a diploma at home.” She pulled out her wallet and waited for the cashier girl to give her the price.

“That’ll be 22.06 dollars.”, the cashier said, staring at Marinette with a curious look.

Marinette paid the money, placed her steak in a bag. Meanwhile Damian grabbed the receipt and his chocolate bar then began scarfing it down. “Aww! I don’t get any chocolate?”, she pouted. Her only response was Damian hissing at her. She smiled when she heard Damian hurrying after her. “So you’ve heard what I’ve been up to. Now what’s been going on with you?”, she asked. “Also, what’s a hickey?” Damian almost choked on his chocolate.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

They’d been walking a while, and were almost to the hideout when Damian pointed out that they were passing by a toy store. She looked over her shoulder to give the store a courtesy glance when she saw it. In the store’s window, there were stuffed animals, lions, tigers, bears, and one familiar bunny. She walked over to the bunny, and shakily placed her hand over the glass. She whispered, “Cottontail.” A smile taking over her features as she wanted to reach through the glass and take the toy. Just to hug it for a minute or two, let herself feel at ease once more. 

“Do you want that toy?”, Damian’s voice brought her back to where she was. She blinked and looked down at the bunny. It wasn’t pure white with green button eyes, no it was grey with a white patch over one eye, its eyes weren’t buttons either. And it was naked! 

She frowned and stepped away from the store, “No, it’s a far cry from the real thing.” She looked over at Damian, despite his frown she saw the familiar gleam of curiosity in his eye. She kept walking in the direction of home and gestured for him to follow her. “When I was a toddler, I didn’t have any friends and my brothers were still a bit too rough for me to play with. So Pops got me a playmate, a stuffed bunny named Cottontail. He was my best friend…but…it wasn’t just my legs I lost that day.” She felt her eyes start to water and she quickly wiped away any stray tears. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Damian eyeing her with what she thinks is suspicion. 

“Why are you giving me so much information?”, he asked. 

“You already know who I am, and I really don’t see the point in playing games with you.”, she replied with a small smile. Damian didn’t respond, maybe it’s best he didn’t say anything. They were only a few minutes away from the factory, she could actually see it from where they were. But Damian probably wouldn’t leave until he saw her walk into her home. She shrugged, it’s just Damian, the grandson of Pops’ business partner. Again, what’s the harm in it?

“Well, here we are.”, she said. They were at the fenced gate surrounding the factory that clearly said, “No trespassing.” Damian gave her a look, she rolled her eyes and exclaimed. “Don’t give me that look. This is where I’ve been living!” 

Damian rubbed his temples and sighed. He crossed his arms, “Marinette, you expect me to believe that you and your father have been living in such an obvious location?” 

Marinette huffed, “Believe what you want, but I have steaks to deliver.” She sashayed away into the factory’s parking lot. She didn’t make it very far before Damian started following her, and so she stopped dead in her tracks. “So are you gonna want to stay for dinner?”, she asked as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Because Pops said Judy made my favorite, Spinach Puffs!” 

Damian looked like he was either going to accept or he was considering it, but then his phone rang. He looked a little annoyed at the name on the caller ID, he tsked. “What do you want Drake?”, he asked. Marinette fiddled with her hands unsure of whether or not she should just keep walking to the secret entrance. Though that name got her curious, was it a codename? Was it assassin stuff? Should she be listening in on this? “Fine, have my transportation arrangements set up and I’ll be there.” Definitely assassin stuff. He hung up the call, he gave Marinette a somewhat apologetic look. “As tempting as that sounds, I have to decline.”, he said. 

Marinette shook her head, “No worries. Guess I’ll just say goodnight then.” She waved a little and started walking closer to the secret entrance when Damian stopped her by grabbing her wrist. She turned to watch him pull out a pen and her receipt from the store. He writes something on the slip of paper and hands it to her. “My personal phone number, if you need the assistance of the grandson of the demon head. ” 

Marinette grinned at him. “Of course, thank you Damian! But you do know my phone number is on my business card right?” 

Damian gave her a deadpan look, then he got this nervous look on his face, it seemed so out of place. “Marinette, can you answer me this question honestly?”, he asked. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded. “Why are you wearing spray tan?” 

Marinette froze slightly, ‘he noticed? But how?’, she pondered but then she broke into a fit of giggles,“You know me, I’m a daddy’s girl. I want to be just like him. He says “jump’ ” She looked Damian dead in the eyes and smiled as she said, “I ask how “high”. He asked me if I wanted to be like him. How could I ever say no? But in order to parade around as Marinette Dolly Levi, I have to look like a regular teenage girl.”

“Your loyalty is admirable.”, Damian said, “To be as loyal as you are to your father, that type of devotion would be highly rewarded in the league.” 

“I don’t know about all that, but Pops is the one who’s given me so much! He raised me, cared for me, provided for me! He even saved me from death, then he healed me, and he even found a way for me to walk again! Then he helped me get back in the game, and I was reborn again! I will do anything Pops asks, because of how much he’s done for me!”, she exclaimed wholeheartedly. Then her eyes widened in shock, and she cried out, “Oh crud, curfew!” 

She pulled Damian in for a hug and said, “Goodnight Damian! Get home safely!” And booked it to the doorway of the hideout. Marinette knocked on the door, she looked over her shoulder and Damian was nowhere to be seen. The door creaked open and she was met with darkness. Before she could blink she was pulled inside and was shoved onto a chair. Then she heard a distinct click-click sound and there was a light blinding her. Then the door slammed behind her.

“Young lady do you have any idea what time it is!”, Pops shouted at her, his silhouette outlined by a giant lamp shining behind him. Marinette had to squint really hard just to see his face, he was frowning. Crud.

Marinette winced and looked down at her feet, “I’m sorry Papa, I must have lost track of time at the grocery store.” She said gesturing to the bag of steaks she had in her arms. Pops pinched the bridge of his nose, “Marinette Dolly Levi.” She flinched, ‘Full name!? Oh I’m in trouble.’, she thought. “I get it. I do, you’re 13. You want to explore, test the boundaries of your freedom!” ‘There’s a but to this isn’t there?’, she sighed inwardly. Then Pops’ smiled and Marinette could tell that it was strained, “But! You are 13! You have a curfew for a reason!”, he paused. “We live in a society that preys on the innocent and tries to corrupt and turn the whole world into a depraved cesspit of despair and deception….And my sweet Dolly, you are one such innocent soul.” 

“Pops, I would’ve been fine. I am your daughter-“, she was cut off by Pops holding up his hand in a “stop” motion. “I’m your father, yes. My influence spreads almost all over the world, but there are thousands. No, millions of people who would love to get their slimy hands on the Joker’s daughter!”, he said, his voice getting louder and more desperate with every word.

Marinette looked at him, she opened her mouth to refute that she would’ve been fine. She can fight! She can distract! She can evade! Nobody even knows who she is! “Like Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy!”, Pops added. Marinette froze, her blood ran cold. “Oh they would love to find out that you lived and then use you as bait. Hell, maybe brainwash you to think I’m the bad guy! Then get you to fight me! And-” Pops froze whatever he was about to say was lost. It took Marinette a few seconds to understand why. She was crying, her face full of tears streaming down her face and soft sobs escaping her. Pops looked a bit scared, then he bent down and extended his arms out towards her. Marinette immediately threw herself off the chair and ran into his arms, and sobbed. 

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”, Marinette hiccuped into his jacket. Pops patted her hair, and hugged her tightly, “There, there. Daddy’s here. I-I went too far. I’m sorry.” His voice full of remorse and the way it cracked, made her freeze. She made him cry, she made him cry. No. Pops should be smiling! 

Marinette clung to his jacket even more, “N-no! It was my f-f-a-ault for missing curfew!” She sobbed, “You were right!” He shushed her, and pushed her away so that she was looking at him “There, there, Dolly.” He used his hand to wipe her tears away, “No more tears.” Marinette tried to stop, but it was hard. The tears wouldn’t stop, and the more she tried to force it, the more the tears fell. 

“Just smile, darn you smile.”, Pops softly sang, “Everybody needs a clown! Now with just one stroke.” Pops’ voice trailed off and instinctively Marinette finished the rest of the song through her tears, “The final joke. Just smile, darn ya smile.” They both started laughing as they sang the rest of the song. Marinette sang the song louder and louder with every word. And soon she forgot what had just occurred. Or tried to, the guilt of upsetting Pops. The way she took his smile away was eating away at her.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette woke up to the sweet smell of pancakes, she hurried down the stairs, past Bud and Lou who were still sleeping off their midnight steaks. She made it to the area they had deemed the kitchen area and saw Pops already at the table reading a newspaper in one hand and eating a spinach puff in the other. A small plate of the delicious treats in front of them. He looked up from the paper, “Good morning Dolly!” 

She grinned at him, “Morning Popsicle!” She passes by him and kisses his cheek and hurries over to the stove where Judy handed her a plate of warm pancakes. She beamed at Judy who smiled at her, and signed “Enjoy!”. Marinette’s mouth salivated at the sight of them, warm and crispy, she sat down at her seat at the table when Pops’ spoke up.

“You know, I don’t know why I overreacted last night. ”, Pops said, making Marinette stop and freeze, remembering his words from last night. “ I mean it’s not like you were out and about with some boy!”, Pops cackled as he stuffed his face with another mouthful of pancake. Wait, that’s a bad thing?! Maybe it’s a good thing she chose not to mention that she walked home with Damian last night. Still she shouldn’t be hiding things from Pops, but she doesn’t want him to cry because she was a bad daughter. Yeah she should keep quiet about Damian. Speaking of Damian, there was something he never told her. Even when she asked politely.

“Pops’ what’s a hickey?”, she asked before stuffing her mouth with her breakfast. Pops’ eyes widened and looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. Then he choked on his second pancake, he was hacking and struggling to get the pastry lodged in his throat out. Marinette panicked and ran over to him but was pushed aside by Judy. Who promptly gave him the heimlich maneuver, immediately the mashed up food went flying across the table landing on Marinette’s plate. ‘Ew!’, she thought, trying not to gag. Luckily, it didn’t touch any of her pancakes. 

“WHO TAUGHT YOU THAT WORD!”, Pops yelled. Marinette tilted her head, “Why?”, she asked. “THAT IS A VERY BAD WORD!” was her response. ‘That doesn’t answer my question though’, she thought. ‘Maybe Lila or Alya would know.’

“Okay, Pops!”, Marinette said as finished her first pancake. ‘If it’s a bad word, then why did the cashier girl ask if she gave Damian a hickey?’, she pondered. It just doesn’t make any sense! What is a hickey?!She absent mindly went for more pancakes, only for her fork to touch the plate, she looked back down at her plate, her pancake…It…Was…Gone! What?! She still had two left on her plate! She looked over at Pops’ plate. When did he go get more pancakes? Wait why does he have two plates?!

GASP! He stole her plate! Right as she was about to say something, Bud came running with her purse in his mouth. She slid off her seat to kneel down in front of him and he dropped it in her lap. She smiled at him and scratched his chin, “Thank you Lou!” She looked at her phone and saw she had 10 missed calls from Pants On Fire. “Oh crud! I’m supposed to go to Wayne Hotel to meet with Lila!” She shot up like a bullet and was about to run off to her room when Pops cleared his throat. 

“Dolly”, he said without even looking up from his newspaper. “Curfew.” Marinette nodded and nervously smiled, “Of course! It won’t ever happen again!” The guilt from making Pops worry over her was beginning to eat at her again. “You should tan a bit when you get home.”, he added as she walked away.

It had been a while since she spent some time in her tanning bed. Guess her tan was starting to fade a bit. Looks like those stupid self tanning spray were cheap after all! “Okay Pops!”, she said. 

She ran upstairs to her room and changed out of her pajamas into something more business casual. Is she forgetting anything? Keys, phone, wallet, tools, purse? Nope, that’s everything. She ran back downstairs, passing by her sleeping brothers, and racing to the kitchen where most of her family was. Punch and Judy eating some delicious looking pancakes, her stomach growled at the sight. All the while, Pops was still reading the newspaper. She kissed Pops’ cheek, and gave hugs to Punch and Judy. Before she left the kitchen, Pops cleared his throat.

“Do you have everything you need?”, Pops asked, finally looking up from his newspaper. Marinette shook her head yes, Pops smiled. “Attagirl. Just remember to be home by 10:00.” Marinette nodded and ran out the door. She texted Lila.

**_Me:_** I’m on my way

She booked it to the nearest bus stop and waited. Then her phone beeped, twice. She looked around, she was alone. There was no one who looked like they might take her away. She pulled out her phone and unlocked it.

**_Pants on Fire:_ **Ok

Ok? Ok!? Is this girl serious?! She called her numerous times just for ok?! Ugh! Stupid toy! She’s lucky she’s even playing with her! She frowned and shoved her phone back into her purse. Then her stomach grumbled slightly, she was confused.Then it hit her, she’s only running on one pancake. Oh well, it’s what she gets for missing curfew.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Eventually, she made it back to the Wayne Hotel. Finally here! She walked up the staircase and through the doors, sighing she pulled out her phone and texted Lila.

_**Me:**_ I’m in the lobby 

**_Me:_** Be there soon!

Then she overheard an excited squeal, curious she turned her head and saw Alya talking to two boys. A blonde boy who looked both happy and nervous, and a boy with glasses and a red cap who just looked concerned. The trio was about 10 feet away from her, but they were right next to the elevator. Marinette could tell how happy Alya was from where she was at the door. Her earrings seemed to glow brighter than usual, was it cause she was happier than usual? 

The closer Marinette got to the elevator the more she could hear the trio. “Seriously? You’re dad’s coming to the Wayne Gala?! That’s so awesome! Do you think you could get me an interview with him?”, Alya exclaimed as she stared at the Blondie with stars in her eyes. But the Blondie was silent, seeing Blondie like this Alya’s red glow dimmed and Glasses placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Adrien. Dude. Are you okay?”, he asked. ‘That’s Adrien? He’s kinda meh. Why did Lila lie about him?’, she thought. ‘Is he super rich or something?’ Blondie, or Adrien reached up to grab the other boy’s hand and smiled reassuringly. 

“Don’t worry Nino. I’m fine, it’s just Father is planning a father-son outing tomorrow.”, Adrien smiled. Well that doesn’t seem like something to be upset over. “It’s going to be the first time we’ve hung outside the house since my mom disappeared.” Oh, should she be listening to this conversation?

Marinette was close enough now to see their faces, and honestly? They both seemed bland. Sure they were good-looking in their own right, but that’s it. So far they didn’t seem like anything more than toys. 

“Oh that’s so amazing Adrien! Wait tomorrow? So he’s already here? Or coming tomorrow?”, Alya questioned. A confused look on her face, Glasses or Nino looked a bit upset at this revelation. Marinette was right next to them now, she didn’t look at them,or try to gain Alya’s attention. She needs to get to Lila’s room to do some final touch ups to the dress. 

“Actually, he arrived the same day we did. He’s just been busy trying to branch out in Gotham.”, Adrien admitted. Marinette pressed the button for the elevator and it came to her almost immediately. She stepped inside and overheard Adrien say, “Father thinks it’ll be good for the brand if he is friends with Bruce Wayne and I’m friends with-” The elevator doors closed as she pressed the 12th floor button, effectively cutting off Adrien. 

After a minute or two she was up on the 12th floor, and now standing in front of Lila’s room. She knocked and there was no response. She pulled out her phone and texted Lila.

_**Me:**_ I’m here!

_**Me:**_ Like right outside your door

After 5 minutes she still had no response. Okay nothing to worry about, she’ll just call her. She clicked on Lila’s contact name and waited. 

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Soooooo, she called Lila twice, with about 3 minutes in between each call. Okay maybut it looked like she hadn’t even read her messages. Did she step out? Did she forget her phone? Is she on the phone again? Or is she on the toilet? Maybe she should check the door, if it’s locked she’ll wait. If it’s unlocked she’ll go in. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted, it was unlocked. She released it and face palmed.

What is wrong with this girl?! This is Gotham! Seriously? Did this girl not learn from the first time she walked into her room?! Unless, she’s dead. Ugh! She better not walk in on a dead body! She sighed and twisted the door knob again, and walked into the room. So far no corpse smell.

She walked further into the room and saw Lila. In the Peacock Dress, staring into a floor-length mirror that was attached to the wall. All the while swaying her hips to see the skirt of the dress twirl. She was able to see Lila’s face through the reflection, and the girl had a pleased look on her face. Seriously?! She was here the entire time?! Marinette resisted the urge to facepalm, and instead of grabbing Lila’s hair and twisting it like it was playdough, she took a deep breath. She put on the most genuine smile she could muster.

“Hey Lila!”, she chirped. Lila jumped and Marinette saw Lila’s reflection looked shocked for just a second before turning into a smile. It kind of looked genuine.

“Marinette! Darling! What a surprise! I didn’t even hear you come in!”, Lila beamed. Still modeling with the dress on. 

“Well, the door was unlocked and you didn’t answer my texts or calls.”, Marinette said, “And because this is Gotham, I was worried.” She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, because it was.

Lila didn’t look like she acknowledged her comment, she just kept twirling. Then Lila piped up, “I know what you mean. I’ve been here for over a week now and I simply can’t relax unless I have this dress on! Gotham is such a gloomy mess.” Oh now that made her mad, insulting her hometown?! Does this girl have a death wish?

If Lila saw the anger in her eyes, she didn’t show it. Instead she kept modeling in the mirror, even blowing kisses at her reflection. ‘Is she trying to annoy her?’, Marinette thought. Lila looked at Marinette through the mirror and smiled. Marinette was able to smile by imagining Lila’s head on a spike, while she and Pops laughed.

“Honestly, Mari, Darling. I worry about you being in such a dangerous city. All the unsavory types roaming the streets.”, Lila said as she spun around and faced Marinette directly. She walked over to her and placed her hands on Marinette’s shoulders. “Especially since you’re in Jester’s gang.” 

Wait…What? Who’s Jester? Marinette didn’t need to fake a look of confusion, who the hell is Jester? Wait a minute…Does she mean Pops?! ‘I’m gonna kill her.’, she thought. But then, Lila moved her hands down her arms, and now she was holding her hands. Marinette looked her in the eye in mild confusion “Marinette, you have to leave his gang. Haven’t you seen what he did to that one psychiatrist? The one who got close to him? He brainwashed her, got her pregnant and then he…he killed their daughter!”, Lila said so earnestly that Marinette probably would’ve believed her if she had just been a goon. She felt her body begin to shake, then she was giggling. She shook her hands free and laughed a bit crazily in Lila’s face. 

“Lila, I know you like to lie, but I’m not playing this game. Po-The _Joker_ didn’t brainwash **_Harley Quinn_**. She tricked him into loving her, tricked him into trusting **_her_**.” She growled, and then a look of fear flashed in Lila’s eyes. Marinette took a step forward and Lila stepped back. “And you want to know what she did to that trust?” Memories of the pain, the fear and the eventual release from the everlasting agony were flooding her brain. Seeing Pops’ saddened face whenever she brought up **_HER_**. All they did was fuel her anguish and anger. 

Every step she took forward, Lila stepped back. Now Lila’s back was up against the mirror, and she slammed her hands onto the wall, effectively trapping Lila with her body. She stared Lila dead in the eyes, “She stabbed him in the back and killed their daughter!”, she screamed. Tears streamed down her face, “Marinette Quinzel is dead, _her mother_ killed her.”, She spat out like the words were poison. She pushed her body off the wall and stepped away from Lila.

“I’m leaving. Don’t call unless there’s a problem with the dress.”, she muttered as she walked right out of the room, quietly wiping any stray tears.

**___*****Line Break*****___**

Marinette walked in a bit of a huff as she began storming out of the elevator. ‘Stupid toy! Lucky I didn’t grab her by the sausages for disrespecting Pops! And for making me cry! Ugh!’, she stomped her foot on the ground and fought back the urge to scream. Why did she think Lila was a good toy anyways!? She should’ve just stayed home and watched Netflix!

She was tempted to just kick the next person she saw, actually that might cheer her up. Ugh today has just been the worst! Maybe she should call Damian and see if he’s free. Tell him things she can’t really tell Pops. Pops. If he heard Lila, that dumb girl would be in the hospital being treated for Joker venom. Ugh! When she gets home she’ll eat a whole tub of ice cream! Hopefully that will help her forget about this horrible day! Oh great she was gonna cry again.

“Mari!”, she heard Alya call. Oh crud! Oh crud! She put on her best mile, and turned to Alya’s direction. Alya was with Glasses and Blondie, the latter two looking to be invested in their conversation. She waved at Alya who ran over to her, “Hey girl!” Alya was grinning excitedly at her, her earrings glowing brighter than ever. Like a fire glowing at night. But then her smile disappeared, and the glow to her earrings dimmed. A lot, from a fire to a firefly. Why? 

She got her answer when Alya looked concerned, it didn’t take Marinette long to put the dots together. Marinette rubbed her eyes. But there were no tears. How could she tell? Was her make-up running? No it was waterproof. Where her eyes puffy? No, she stopped crying a while ago. How? How could she tell?

“Hey Alya.”, she tried to smile. Alya didn’t smile back, instead she walked up to Marinette. Her upset look bothered Marinette. 

“Marinette. Are you okay?”, Alya asked looking into her eyes. ‘Am I okay? I-I…No! I’m not! Pops is mad at me! I messed up! Lila’s lying about Pops! A-and I’m not okay!’, the words were caught in her throat. Marinette’s lip trembled and she threw herself into Alya’s arms. Alya immediately wrapped her arms around Marinette. It felt..comfortable? No…That’s not the word…Safe. She felt safe in her arms. Why did she feel safe? 

Hiding her face in Alya’s shoulder, Marinette clung to Alya. Tears silently cascading, no longer being held back by the fake smile. “Marinette, do you want to talk about it?”, Alya whispered.

“I-I got into a fight with my pop-a.”, Marinette sobbed in a hushed tone. Alya tensed and her hold around Marinette tightened. “I missed curfew and…and-”

“He blew up at you, didn’t he?”, A familiar voice piped up. Marinette froze and turned her head to see Blondie and Glasses. Glasses looked a little nervous and like he wanted to go somewhere else, Blondie on the other hand. He kept walking closer to them and for some reason she felt like she was back at the Lazarus Pit. Why? Was Blondie an assassin? She didn’t get this feeling earlier, what was causing it? She instinctively wiped her eyes and went back to hiding her face in Alya’s shoulder. Then her stomach growled. Loud. Suddenly, it felt like everyone’s eyes were on her. Observing her. Judging her. Making her feel even worse.

Alya pulled away and Marinette looked up so that they were making eye contact. “Why don’t we get you something to eat, then we can talk about it?”, Alya suggested. A soft smile directed at Marinette. It reminded her of the happier times with Cottontail. How? What was it that made Alya a source of comfort?

“My treat”, Blondie offered, he grinned at her and Marinette was blinded. Blondie was pure sunshine, something that is rarely seen here in Gotham. Glasses gave her a nervous smile but when she timidly smiled back, he seemed a bit more relaxed. Marinette stopped clinging to Alya and was now standing by her side. 

She eyed Glasses and Blondie up and down. Okay these guys weren’t toys, but they weren’t not toys either. But… they are Alya’s toys- no Alya’s friends. She’ll play nice for now, but if they start looking for something, she’ll give it to them.

“Mari, this is the love of my life Nino, my boyfriend.” Alya gestured to a now blushing Glasses. “Aw babe!”, he gushed. “And this is Adrien, Nino’s and my boyfriend.” She gestured towards Blondie who’s face immediately turned red. “A-alya!”, Blondie blushed. Boy friend? Marinette thought back to what the cashier said. 

_“Your boyfriend looks a little embarrassed.”, she winked, “What did you do? Give him a hickey?”_

Alya has a boy friend? Or boy friends? Apparently you give a bo yfriend hickeys, so Alya gives tthem hickies? So Alya will know what a hickey is! Grinning she pulled Alya’s coat arm to get her attention. 

“Hey Alya, since you have boy friends you can answer this for me! What’s a hickey?”, Marinette asked. Alya sputtered and Glasses turned into a tomato, why is that every one’s response? She frowned, “Seriously? Is no one going to tell me what a hickey is?! I’ve been asking people that all day and no one’s told me!” She turned to Blondie and he didn’t look like Alya or Glasses. He looked just as clueless as her! 

“Do you know what a hickey is?”, she asked him. Alya immediately grabbed hold of Marinette and spun her around so that they were face to face.

“Mari, girl. How old are you?”, she asked. Marinette smiled and chirped, “I’m 13!” Alya looked horrified and looked over at Glasses. The boy was red and trying to hide his face in his hat. Blondie just looked confused. 

“What’s a hickey?”, he asked Alya, who screeched, “Let’s go find something to eat!” and dragged them all towards the hotel’s doors. Marinette and Blondie shared a confused look which turned into small giggles and chuckles. 

**___*****Line Break*****___**

In the end Blondie had taken them to a restaurant right across from the Wayne Hotel, honestly the name screamed cheesy and cliche. _The Bat Cafe_ , named after the fabled Batcave, is it wrong of her to hate this place just off the name? Oh well, not like her companions cared, Blondie and Alya were excitedly talking about the bat “family” and the foods named after them. Like the Night-Wings, the Sing Like a Bird(it’s the spiciest sauce they have for wings) , and the Batarang Bacon Burger. It’s times like this she’s truly grateful that a majority of Gotham fears her family. Still the names were hilarious. 

Which is why Alya was taking pictures and posting them on her Lady Blog? She has no idea what that’s supposed to mean but hey. Everyone has their hobbies. Her eyes traveled to the interior of the restaurant, newspapers full of the exploits of “Gotham’s heroes”, then her sight landed on one of the Joker behind bars. She sighed, this is officially the worst day ever, and slumped into her seat. Alya and Blondie then got up out of their seats, startling her a little bit. 

“Me and Adrien are gonna go ask the employees some questions, you know their opinions on the Bat-Fam! And maybe some questions on the villains.”, Alya grinned, Blondie shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Then it was just her and Glasses. Maybe she should fake getting a text to get out of here? Yeah tell them something came up! 

“Think of what happened with you and your old man?”, Glasses’ voice cut through her plan in the making. She snapped up to attention and nervously nodded. Not sure of what else to do. “Or were you planning an escape?”, he asked in a joking tone. 

‘Crud! How did he know?!’, she panicked internally. He chuckled, “Don’t worry dudette.” ‘Dudette? That’s a first.’ Glasses slumped back into his seat. “You know, they would understand if you told them you were uncomfortable. After all, we’re strangers that dragged you along with us.”, he said. ‘There’s a but to this isn’t there.’ “But! You have something you need to get off your chest and it’s not good to hold it all in. Unless you have a really good outlet.” 

“Uh…what?”, she said, hold it all in? Outlet? Like for electricity? Or for creativity? She tilted her head to the side, and gave him a clueless look. Glasses’s eyes widened, and he laughed nervously. “Mari, you do have an outlet right?” 

“You mean creatively right?”, Marinette asked. “‘Cause in that case yeah, I draw, design, play with my brothers, and sometimes play games with my Auntie, Uncle and Papa.” 

“Ok, that’s good, but what about when you’re feeling stressed?”, Glasses’ asked. “How do you take all the stress out of your life?” Stress? What stress? She’s never stressed, why would she be stressed? She’s Marinette Dolly Levi, daughter of the Joker, successful business owner, and upcoming villainess! She has a perfect life, loving family, a well thought out future, what would cause her stress? “I see now. You don’t even see that you’re being stressed out.”

W-what? How? What? “What makes you say that?”, she asked. Glasses looked at her with a look she didn’t recognize. Was it pity? Or sympathy? It made her feel sort of inferior and angry. Before she could say anything, somebody slammed their hands down on the table. Startling both Marinette and Nino- Glasses! His name is Glasses. She looked up and saw a very irate Alya. Oh boy, this should be good.

“Guess who’s here?”, Alya grit her teeth, immediately Glasses reached over and gently grabbed her hand. “Apparently, Rose saw us coming over here and then the rest of the class decided that it would be a great class outing! So now Lila and her worshipers are here.” Wait what? 

Lila? Worshipers? Now that she has to see, wait- where’s Blondie? She looked over in the direction that Alya came from and saw Lila and another blonde girl clinging to Blondie’s arms like a vine on a wall. Poor Blondie looked so uncomfortable and he looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Why was he just letting those leeches hang onto him? Lila then said something to the blonde girl and then both of them started spewing some quiet venom at each other. Unfortunately she was too far away to hear them properly.

Blondie then tried to calm them down but they either didn’t hear him or pretended not to notice. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alya and Glasses seething at the sight of Blondie’s discomfort. Frowning, she stood up and walked out of the booth and walked over to the trio ready to kill. 

She arrived just in time to hear Lila say, “I promised Adrien that I would show him around Gotham! And I just hate to break my-” 

“Hey Lila!”, she cut her off. Lila froze and stopped mid argument, when her eyes landed on Marinette, now that was an unnerved look. Marinette faked her most genuine smile and said, “Fancy seeing you here!” Lila was trembling a little as she tried to hide behind Blondie under the guise of snuggling closer to him.

“Y-yeah! Same…I didn’t really expect you to be here.”, Lila smiled at her. The blonde girl took Lila’s distraction as a chance to pull Blondie closer to her. Blondie didn’t seem to mind her yanking on his arm as much.. Friend? Relative? Or something else? Either way, she was part of Blondie’s discomfort, and was pissing off Alya and Glasses. Marinette smiled at Lila, a somewhat cute smile with sinister intent, then she noticed some movement from behind the trio and saw a waitress heading their way. “Adrien I think it’s time for us to go back to our booth now. I’m pretty sure that waitress is for us.” 

Blondie looked behind him and looked back at her, “Oh right! Um…Lila, can you please let go of my arm?”. Lila immediately let go and avoided eye contact with Marinette. The blonde girl huffed and pulled Blondie along with her in the direction of Alya and Glasses’ booth. Then a red haired girl followed after the blonde duo, Marinette raised an eyebrow at this. ‘Okay. Looks like the booth will be a little crowded.’, she thought. But seriously who is the blonde girl? Ugh, she’ll just call her Barbie! She followed after the group before giving Lila and the rest of her class a smile, “Ya know, you guys should really have a teacher or adult watching over you. I mean only an idiot would leave a bunch of foreign kids alone in Gotham!” 

Lila flinched and the rest of the class looked confused by her words, except for a really tall girl? No, she’s at least in her twenties and she looked pissed, she had pretty red hair tied up in a bun and was…wearing…a matching white blazer and pants? ‘Crud, did I just insult a teacher’s aid?’, she thought. ‘Oh well, it’s the truth.’ The lady looked like she was gonna say something but Marinette just shrugged and walked back to the booth. Where it was Alya and Glasses vs. Barbie and the red haired girl. Both sides stared daggers at the other and neither were willing to back down. Blondie shrugged sheepishly at her and patted the seat next to him. So they were sitting; her, Blondie, Barbie, Red, Alya, and Glasses. 

Yup. Definitely cramped, she sighed and slid into the free seat. Finally the waitress made it over to them, wait she looked familiar. Cashier girl! Marinette looked at her name tag, Kitten, huh, cute name. Kitten seemed to recognize her as well, “Hey, you’re the girl with the blushing boyfriend!”, she teased, she looked at the group of teens, “Oh, no boyfriend today?” Kitten composed herself and smiled, “Hi, I’m Kitten. I’ll be your waitress tod-” She was cut off by the sound of people screaming. Both Kitten and Marinette sighed, “Another day in Gotham.”

Everyone in the booth shot up and was now running towards the exit. Luckily there weren’t too many people aside from the class and Marinette’s group. They made it outside and she realized that Blondie, Glasses and Alya had disappeared. Looking around she only saw the class, Barbie and Red. Where did they go? Then Marinette heard a really obnoxious laugh. “Oh ho ho ho ho”, she turned her head and then Marinette saw something that made her blood boil. Standing there was a lady in the most horrendous outfit ever. She’s seen her Uncle Eddie’s green question mark suit, and her Uncle Harvey’s first attempt at the half and half suit. But this?! Oh this belongs in its own personal hell. 

It was the teacher’s aid lady except what is she WEARING?! Why bats? Why purple? Why the green? Why?! Why?! Why?! Why are her and Pops’ colors on a bat themed lunatic?! A green collared shirt, purple bat themed blazer, dark purple pants, and a green bat mask. Not like Batman! No, this mask is a green domino mask that was shaped like a bat! “There you are!”, she said, her tone not matching her appearance at all. It was so serious compared to her silly appearance. “You will pay for insulting me! I am not an idiot!”, she exclaimed. 

“Nope, you’re a teacher’s aid with no fashion sense!”, Marinette yelled back, the lady grit her teeth and unfurled her wings. Wait wings? Oh wow, she has wings. Is she a meta? But then where was she hiding them before?

“I’m not a teacher’s aide! I’m Miss Behave!”, she yelled as she launched herself at Marinette. Before Marinette could jump out of the way she was tackled to ground by someone else. She felt them twirl themselves in the air so that her fall could be cushioned by their body. Groaning, she looked up and was met face to face with Alya who was wincing from the rough landing. Oh crud she hit her head on the cement! There were tears in her eyes as Marinette helped Alya to her feet. “You look more like a wannabe Joker-Batman lovechild to me!”, Marinette sneered. 

“Troublesome students need to learn how to behave!”, Miss Behave yelled out as she flew up to be about 2 stories high. She stretched out her hand, and when Marinette saw a magenta glow overtake the lunatic’s hand, she booked it. Dragging Alya with her to safety. ‘Crud! Crud! Crud! I need a better curse word than crud!’, she thought. She heard people screaming and what sounded like cartoon laser guns firing in the air. As much as she wanted to watch…whatever is going on, she had to get Alya to safety. 

She saw a wall that could provide some cover and ran over to it, still dragging Alya along with her. It looked like it could cover them from the front and the back, but they would be exposed on the sides. But it was far enough that Miss Wannabe Bat wouldn’t notice where they were. ‘Where are Blondie and Glasses when you need them?!’, she huffed. When they were hidden behind the wall, she set Alya down so that she was leaning against the wall. Marinette then took the chance to actually look back at Miss Behave. Her back was turned to her and she was shooting lasers from her hands? Oooh, who’s her supplier? Lex Corps? “All bad students need to shape up!”, she cackled as she blasted a girl. 

Marinette watched as that girl was overtaken by the magenta light and was now wearing… a gaudy purple and green school uniform. Still bat themed?! Why the bats?! The girl spun around and her face was twisted in the most horrifying smile she’s ever seen. “Go find that girl that called me an idiot! I will teach her some manners!” The person nodded and spun around like a toy soldier marhcing off in search of…her? Ok, not science, maybe meta. But seriously?!

That’s what set her off? Being insulted by a 13 year old? How did this woman become a teacher without thinking that some of her students might hate her guts and call her names? She rolled her eyes and looked for an escape route or a better hiding spot. “Alya.”, she whispered. “Are you still with me?” She received a groan as a response, ok, she can hear. That’s good right? She looked down at Alya, her eyes were closed and her face was contorted in pain. This is bad. This is bad. This is bad. 

What should she do? What could she do? She’s Marinette Dolly Levi right now. She’s no one special and she’s right smack dab in the middle of an attack by a villain she doesn’t know. And she’s cornered with an injured girl by her side. What should she do? What should she do? She should call Pops! Yeah!

“Wait! You have to help!”, a high pitched feminine voice said. Marinette froze, that voice…came from Alya? She looked down and saw…A giant bug? A mouse? A bug mouse? Before she could freak out properly, the little red bug mouse flew up and covered her mouth. “Marinette please!” Wait…The bug mouse was glowing. In that same red glow that Alya’s earrings have.

Marinette gasped, “You’re the reason Alya’s earrings glow!” Her eyes widened, and then she looked really excited. Aaaand she was radiating light now. Like a pure pink gleam of light. It kind of hurt actually. 

Bug mouse smiled at her so earnestly, “You can see the ladybug glow!” She squealed. “I knew you were my child!” W-was Bug mouse happy crying? Wait, child? What’s that supposed to mean?! Is she trying to say she isn’t Pops’ daughter?! H-how… ** _HOW DARE SHE_**! Then Bug mouse’s glow dimmed and then her look of joy disappeared. It was replaced by sorrow? **Serves her right. She’s Pops’ daughter. _NO ONE ELSE’S._ DEFINITELY NOT SOME BUG MOUSE’S.**

“Y-you…Your soul…It’s definitely the one I made so long ago, but it’s been…corrupted.”, The little red bug mouse then started to tear up and flew up and hugged Marinette’s cheek. **_Stop her. Make her stop. MAKE HER STOP._** “Oh my poor little one. You’ve been through so much.”, hearing Tikki’s voice immediately made her feel weird. She didn’t feel that angry voice nagging at her anymore, but she didn’t feel at ease either. It was like she was being hugged by an old friend. But at the same time it was like being hugged by a stranger. If that makes sense? 

She cleared her throat and gently pulled Tikki off of her face, “How do you expect me to help with…this?”, she asked. Her hands moving wildly, gesturing to the show that was happening around them. Bug mouse wiped her eyes and her glow got brighter. “Alya’s earrings are also known as the Ladybug Miraculous. You put them on and say “Tikki, spots on” to transform!”, Bug mouse cheered. 

“Tikki?”, Marinette repeated. “Oh silly me! That’s my name! After saying that then you’ll become a hero-” Marinette frowned. “Warrior! A ladybug warrior. You have a power, the Lucky Charm, that will help you capture the akumatized item. It is important that you purify the akuma!”, Tikki said with a determined look 

Lucky charm? Akumatized item? Purify the akuma? Ok. She’s officially lost. Bug mouse gave her a light hearted smile, “Chat Noir should be here in Gotham. He’s Alya’s partner, and he’s a brave he-…warrior.” Chat Noir? That means black cat right? Ok. Ok.

Let’s review everything that’s happened in the last half hour. A wannabe joker bat showed up and attacked. Tried to her! A talking bug mouse named Tikki says she’s supposed to be a hero. And she has to work with a possible child of Catwoman?! “I’m sure this is a lot to take in.”, Tikki said. ‘No kidding?!’, she thought. “But I will explain everything to you after the battle I promise!”, the bug mouse continued, then she smiled and punched the air. 

Ok. Guess she’s doing this. Marinette looked over at Alya who was looking around, when they made eye contact. She saw a dazed look in Alya’s eyes, crud, does she have a concussion? She knelt down to Alya’s level, “Alya…I’ma borrow your earrings, just this once?”, she said. Alya nodded, “Ok.”, she said softly. And then Marinette took off Alya’s earrings and then removed her own earrings. On went the magical jewelry. They felt both wrong and right. It was like she was trying to fall asleep in a bed that was made for her, but it wasn’t hers. “Tikki, spots on.”, Marinette said in a serious voice. Then she was overtaken by a pink light that felt…warm? It was so warm and inviting, and it…it made her happy? She closed her eyes and just let the feeling overcome her senses.

When it was over, Marinette felt…complete? Why? Like she finally had that piece of her soul that she didn’t even know she was missing. It was so warm.

“This feels right.”, she smiled as she opened her eyes and looked at her hands. They were covered in black gloves? With a red spot on the back? Okayyyyy. She looked down at her body. Red and black. Too much red and black. _**You look just like HER. You really are HER daughter.**_ Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. They’re just colors. They’re just colors. HER Colors. Ok she can work with this…Why is she in a skin tight suit? She’s 13 for chrissake?! At least she has a crop top on. Oh it has a hood. With a cute ladybug pattern. she patted her head. She has a bow with long ribbons sticking out at the top of her head? Why?!

“Bug mouse I did not agree to this!”, she hissed. Aaaaaand bug mouse was gone. That’s just great. Then she heard screaming, the fear in their voices. The rubble cave was surrounding her again, it was holding her. Trapping her, she felt her chest tighten. She clenched her fists and tried to push her arms out to move but she couldn’t do anything. It wouldn’t work, she was stuck.

No. **No. NO! _SHE WILL NOT BE TRAPPED AGAIN!_ **Then she felt as if she had been slapped, she clutched her cheek in pain and looked around. Alya was still where she left her, Tikki was gone, and she was back behind the wall. She breathed in, 1,2,3,4 throw it out the door. She breathed out, 5,6,7,8 now you’re great. What’s going on now? 

Jokerbat. Chaos. Alya. Safety! She has to help! No, first she has to get Alya somewhere safe! Then fight the crazy bat lady and purify the akuma! All the while she’s in this… ridiculous outfit! Why was she doing this again? Because some magical bug mouse asked her to? “ _Think of this as a game._ ”, a voice whispered in her ear, okay. That definitely wasn’t Alya’s voice and it wasn’t the angry one she heard every now and then. Her head whipped around, it was just her and Alya. “Who said that?”, she said as she hoisted Alya over her shoulder. Of course she got no response. Oh well, she has a job to do! 

**________________________________________________________________**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Spirit here! Thanks for reading GPP! Hope you enjoyed it! Also that breathing exercise at the end helps me calm down when I’m feeling stressed and scared. And yes I did learn it from Kipo, I saw that episode and I kept it in mind, i did change the first verse(is that the right word?) so that it rhymed better. Don’t want to go into much detail, but it helps me calm down to a point where I can evaluate my problems to find a solution.


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette grit her teeth as she turned the corner, while making sure Alya was secure on her shoulder. No matter how far she ran, she could still hear the laughter of Jokerbat-Er, Miss Behave getting louder. Never in her life has the sound of maniacal laughter given her the chills as much as it has now. ‘Is this what people mean when they say Pops’ laugh is creepy? No, Pops’ laugh sounds nothing like that wannabe’, she thought as she looked around for a safe exit. There! A window! First floor, no one around, about 10 feet away, she could make it. 

With one arm securely holding Alya and a final look over her shoulder, she booked it. Almost home free! She wanted to cackle. Aw crud, the window was closed. The window was closed?! Why?! She sighed as she came to a stop in front of the window. Just to open the dang thing! Did no one think to escape via the window?! Did they all cram themselves through the doors? She groaned in irritation as she and Alya jumped through the now open window to safety.

“Now, where to hide you?”, she muttered under her breath. Then she heard Alya softly say, “yo-yo.” Yo-yo? Marinette looked down and found said toy hanging on her hip, she grabbed it with her free hand and decided why not. She threw it at a lamppost and was impressed by the strength of the string. ‘Oh right…magic.’, she thought. Marinette held Alya tight and was suddenly launched into the air. “Oooooohhhhhhh mmmmmyyyyyyyy Goooooooooood!”, she shouted as she flew in the air. 

A large smile was on her face when she landed on a building near the lamppost. “Hey Ladybug!”, a familiar voice shouted. Wait, are they talking to her? Wait, that’s a stupid question. Is there anyone else around wearing a ladybug outfit? She wanted to facepalm herself so bad. “Ladybug over here!” She turned her head and saw Glasses? The boy was waving her over from the apartment he was in. Marinette noticed that it had a balcony that was big enough for her to land in.

‘Maybe I could leave Alya with him. They are dating after all.’, Marinette thought as she swung over to the awaiting adult. As she got closer she noticed that Glasses was grinning, but as soon as he saw Alya, his grin disappeared. It was soon replaced with recognition then worry, fear and the way he looked at Marinette was weird. When Marinette landed on the balcony he was immediately up in her face. 

“You’re not Ladybug! Who are you? Why do you have the Ladybug miraculous? Why do you have Alya?! Where did you find her? Did you see anyone else with her? Dark haired girl, short, blue eyes, purple dress, big purple bow in her hair?”, He asked, his eyes full of panic. 

“I’m- I-I mean…Um, I’m filling in for…” What did he call her? Ladybug! “..Ladybug…She had some hero business to attend to…Then I saw Alya was caught up in the attack and I saved her…” Obviously Glasses was referring to her. “I- I saw a girl with that description getting away when this whole thing started.”, Marinette said. Not a lie, she did get away when it all went down. 

Glasses looked relieved, but looked like he didn’t fully believe her. “But there’s more important matters at hand, Jo- I mean Miss Behave is after this girl and I need a safe place to leave her. Can I trust you with her?”, she continued. Glasses nodded and Marinette gave a now sleeping Alya to him. “I’ll come back once everything is finished.” Marinette took a step off the balcony and fell backwards. 

Feeling the wind blowing against her entire body reminded her of when she jumped into the vat of chemicals. There were very few words that could describe exactly how she felt falling like this. But the ones that came to mind were free, happy, and excited. “It’s showtime.”, she muttered to herself as she threw her yo-yo at something, when it went taut she grinned. And off she went, she cheered as she flew back to the battlefield.

_**___*****Line Break*****_**_ __

Once she made it back to the now destroyed The Bat Cafe, she noticed that there were about 30 people in the green and purple uniform sitting in makeshift desks made of rubble. Sitting as quiet as the dolls she has on a shelf in her room, all of their faces twisted with the same smiles. ‘That’s not creepy at all’, she thought. Wait, isn’t this a classic classroom setting? Why? 

“Alright class!”, the familiar voice of Jokerbat said in a cheery tone as she flew in from who knows where. She landed right in front of a podium that she recognized from the cafe, and then her happy smile switched into an angry scowl. “Detention is starting now! None of you were able to find that girl who insulted me!” Her tone shifted so fast it almost gave Marinette whiplash. Then her “class” said in unison, “We’re sorry Miss Behave!” 

“You better be! I told you to find her! Just wait until I get my hands on her! She’ll see that I am a good teacher! The best in the world”, she cackled, then the “class” then joined in and Marinette cringed. ‘This is why I’m homeschooled.’, she thought as she watched them. ‘Bug Mouse said that Alya’s partner would be here. Shouldn’t they be here by now?’

Why does she get the feeling she’s being watched? As soon as that thought came to her she was pushed to the ground and when the world stopped spinning, she found herself being held at…stickpoint? At staff point? There was a silver staff right in front of her face, being held by black gloved hands. She looked up and met a pair of green eyes that glared at her with so much fury. It was like she was staring down a raging volcano. A raging volcano dressed in a black leather catsuit…Wait, no that’s not leather. She looked further up. A boy in a black domino mask, blonde hair, and cat ears….He’s dressed as a black cat? Oh this is Alya’s partner! What was he called again? Black cat in French was…Chat Noir!

“Who are you! Why do you have the ladybug miraculous! Where’s m’lady!”, he growled at her, she barely held in her laughter. He’s an angry kitty! Awww! Wait, m’lady? So they don’t know who their partner’s are? Ok then. Then he hissed at her, like literally hissed at her, like a cat. Okay not such a cute kitty. He glared at her and Marinette says, “Bug Mouse told me to use the earrings because your partner was hurt!”, she says in a rushed voice. 

He snarled at her, “Liar! What did you do to her?” Marinette shook her head, “She tried protecting me from the crazy lady down there, but she hit her head pretty hard. I took her to safety, then Tikki told me to use the earrings and help save the day. So I put them on, and next thing I know I’m in this getup and Tikki is gone. Your partner was half asleep and I gave her to somebody in her class!”, How she said that without stopping she doesn’t know, he gave her a look that demanded more information. “If I say anything else it could risk her identity!”

Before he could say anything else Marinette heard that same obnoxious laugh from before “Oh ho ho ho ho!” He let her up off the ground and together they looked over at Jokerbat. She was laughing as her students were leaving their desks “Detention is over! Now go and find that girl who insulted me and then bring her to me! So that I can turn her into my star pupil!”, she cackled. Her students laughed along with her as they left the area. 

Marinette was very confused, she’s still going on about that. ‘WHY?!’, she thought. ‘Star pupil? Is she serious? Wait, what is that supposed to mean?!’ She looked at Chat Noir, “She’s joking right?” He shrugged his shoulders in a “I don’t know” fashion. She looked back at Jokerbat who was now all alone, standing at her podium.

“What should we do?”, Marinette quietly asked Chat. He didn’t respond, instead he held up his hand with the pointer finger up, the universal sign for “Give me a minute”. She waited, and then he said, “I’ve been observing her for awhile now. So far, I found that if she hits you with that pink light, you’ll become her student. Basically a mindless zombie that does her bidding and she can fly, doesn’t appear to be very strong, and usually has her students track down more people. She’s looking for someone by the looks of it, and I’m betting her akuma is in her brooch.” 

Brooch? She looked over at Jokerbat who was too busy looking menacing at her podium for whatever reason. Marinette’s eyes landed on the ruby red brooch she wore on her collar. She thought back to when she first encountered the lady in the restaurant. _The lady_ _was really angry. She was wearing the matching outfit._ Marinette thought back to the top half of her outfit. _There! On the lapel of her blazer. A pink brooch._

Marinette nodded her head, “Ok!”, she said determinedly. “So how should we do this?” 

Chat’s eyes were moving everywhere and he gestured for her to follow him. She does and together they snuck around to a secluded area behind a wall which was behind the podium that Jokerbat was using. Once there he whispered to her, “I’ll distract her while you summon your lucky charm, then when her back is turned you’ll get the drop on her.” Marinette nodded and grinned. “Gotham street rules, got it!”, she whispered back.

He nodded at her and she nodded back, but then Chat was knocked down by a red, black, yellow and green figure. Her eyes widened and she instinctively reached for her yo-yo. The figure turned around to face her and Marinette immediately recognized the color scheme, the cape and the insignia. A yellow circle, black interior, with a yellow “R” in it. “Oh wow!”, she said in fake enthusiasm. “Batman has a new Robin! That’s so cool!” 

“Who are you!”, Robin hissed at her and Chat. 

Then Chat groaned from the floor, “I’m Chat Noir.” Robin’s eyes were on her now and was doing his best attempt at a Batman glare. She’s seen Batman’s glare full force, and has even been in the direction of it. This was a very poor imitation of it. Heck, it doesn’t even come close to the glares she’s seen from Damian!

“And you are?”, Robin questioned her, clearly trying to glare harder at her. She internally scoffed and sneered at her rival. Ever since she was born, she had been waiting. Waiting for the day she would finally be face to face with Robin, and now that day had come at last! She was encountering Batman’s latest Robin, not only that, this one looked to be her age! Perfect!

Pops’ and Batsy were arch enemies, so she and Robin were always destined to be rivals. Especially this one, who does he think he is glaring that much at everyone. He’s no Batman, he barely looks like a Robin! 

“Well? Are you going to answer me?”, Robin snarled at her. Oh heck no! She was not about to be disrespected by this…this…wannabe! He’s not even as tall as the last one! In fact, this Robin was short…REALLY SHORT…He’s no Robin, he’s a shrimp! She smirked, “I don’t usually talk down to others,but I’ll make an exception for you, shrimpy. Call me…” she looked down at her outfit. She was covered in a ladybug pattern, red with black dots…Alya called herself Ladybug, so she should call herself Spot? No! Sounds like she’s a dog…Dottie! No, too close to Dolly. “Dot.” 

She giggled when she saw Robin’s glare morph into a look of shock and then into one full of rage. Clearly she touched a nerve. She looked over at Chat, he looked appalled that she insulted one of Gotham’s “heroes”. She so desperately wanted to throw a raspberry his way, but she restrained herself only to give an aloof look to the both of them.

Robin looked extremely annoyed and she could tell he was about to say something, but then he grit his teeth and looked over to Chat. “Your sidekick is rude and I hope she doesn’t speak for the both of you.” ‘Sidekick?! Oh heck no!…This little birdie is about to learn how to fly.’, she thought. She could use her yo-yo as a slingshot and help him earn his wings, but before she could do anything, Chat opened his big mouth. “No she does not, you’ll have to forgive her. She’s a little new to the hero business.” She internally scoffed, not like she wanted to be a “hero”. She’s the daughter of the Joker, she’s destined to be the next clown princess of crime! 

“What Kitty means is I’m just pet sitting because his regular partner was injured and had no other options.”, she sneered at the wannabe hero. Robin’s eyes widened, and he once again looked to Chat. “Wait, you’re partner trusted a civilian to take her place? Does your partner normally this reckless?”

Marinette frowned and looked at Chat who was trying very hard to not attack Robin. She narrowed her eyes. ‘He’s angry but he’s not going to say anything?’ She glared at Robin ‘It’s one thing to insult me, but to insult my friends? Nope not happening!’ She stomped over to Robin and was prepared to grab him by the collar of his suit. The pure anger she felt brought back that angry voice she always had to push away. _**MAKE HIM HURT! MAKE HIM HURT! MAKE HIM HURT!**_

“Let me tell you this once, and only once!”, Chat growled suddenly as he roughly grabbed Robin by the collar of his suit. “You don’t know the struggle we face everyday just to feel anything at all! Everything Ladybug does, she does for a reason! She’s been the hero of Paris for 3 years now! All without the help of your precious Justice League.” He looked so angry with each word that came out, the way his hands trembled, “She fights villains everyday just to keep our city safe, because aside from me, there is nobody else willing to help her. So forgive me when I hear a sidekick like you criticize her, I get mad.” 

Robin looked confused and a bit amused by his words. Chat apparently didn’t like this. His eyes were glowing a bright lime green now. “Everything I do I do for her! So if she trusted Dot enough to lend her her power, then I trust her too!” Chat brought his claws close to RObin’s face, “Just remember the next time you insult m’lady, cats eat birds.”

He has that much faith in Alya? And her? Just because Alya gave her the earrings? Robin looked speechless as Chat’s eyes glowed with an intensity that she had never seen before. She watched him as he took a deep breath, released his hold on Robin and took a few steps back. “Alright here’s the plan so far…” Chat’s voice began to trail off as Marinette felt the angry voice begin to chant.

**_YOU DIDN’T MAKE HIM HURT! YOU DIDN’T MAKE HIM PAY! YOU FAILED! YOU FAILED! YOU FAILED!_** She clenched her fists and growled in a low voice, “Shut..Up.” **_YOU FAILED! YOU FAILED! YOU FAILED!_** “Shut it!”, she snarled a bit more loudly. “ _You didn’t fail anything. You don’t have to make anyone pay.”_ ,that mysterious voice from before said. She froze, her fists clenched tighter and she felt her body start to tremble. She was hearing another voice. Why was she hearing another voice? WHY? Is something wrong with her? Is something wrong with her brain? Why now? “Nothing is wrong with you.” Why were her thoughts tormenting her with voices and thoughts that aren’t hers?! Wait, these were voices and thoughts that weren’t hers. W-what’s going on?

She was trembling even more now, her mind full of questions that she needed the answers to immediately. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she moved on pure instinct. Marinette grabbed the arm it was attached to and then used the momentum to pull the arm and flip the person who grabbed her. Once all was said and done she realized that she had just flipped Chat onto his back. He looks up at her, a stunned look on his face, “Sorry that I scared you, but Robin has been debriefed. He said that he’ll be expecting an explanation from us after this is over, I’ve agreed to it. Maybe now the Justice League will take our cries for help seriously.” That last sentence was more of a mumble than anything, she recognized the look of exhaustion on his face. She frowned, but before she could say anything Chat Noir

“So the plan is the same, just some minor tweaks. While Robin and myself distract Miss Behave, you’ll use the lucky charm to capture her, giving me the opportunity to grab the brooch and destroy it. Then you purify the akuma and boom. Day is saved.” Marinette nodded, “Ok. Let’s do this.”

**____*****Line Break*****____ **

Almost immediately their plan failed, apparently the wannabe Jokerbat heard Chat coming from behind and summoned her students to her aid. ‘It would’ve been funny if it weren’t so sad and pathetic.’, she thought. ‘Oh what the heck, I’ll laugh anyway.’ She giggled as she tossed her yo-yo to make a makeshift cage around the still fighting trio of Robin, Chat, and Jokerbat. And herself of course. The cage blocked off the dozens of people dressed as students who were all trying to get inside to assist Jokerbat. 

“Dot! Use the Lucky Charm!”,Chat yelled at her. Not really knowing what exactly to do Marinette decided to throw her yo-yo and yell, “Lucky charm?” To her surprise the yo-yo spun in the air and started glowing bright red. The next thing she knew there was a ladybug patterned object falling down directly in front of her. She quickly reached out to catch it and now she has a ladybug themed Chinese finger trap? Why? Was this the Lucky Charm? A Chinese finger trap? Seriously? Was magic always this complicated? She looked towards Chat, and gasped slightly. The world around her turned from an array of color to just black and white.

Now this is the weirdest thing that’s happened to her all day. And that’s excluding Bug Mouse and Jokerbat. When her eyes landed on the trio, she saw Chat and Robin glowing in the same ladybug pattern that the Lucky Charm was. Her eyes traveled to Jokerbat, whose gloves were also glowing in the ladybug pattern. Robin, Chat, gloves? She looked down to the Lucky Charm, a finger trap, what if it wasn’t Jokerbat’s gloves. What if it’s her hands! But what do I do with her hands?! She looked back at the still fighting trio. Jokerbat spread her wings and attempted to fly away to gain a height advantage on the two heroes, but was foiled by Robin slamming her back to the ground with his staff. Hard. She winced, right on the head.

Jokerbat growled and aimed her hand straight at the bird hero, a familiar magenta light surrounding it. Marinette gasped and shouted, “Robin! Don’t let the light hit you!”, just as Jokerbat shot off a round of magenta lasers at him. Luckily,(for him) Robin was able to jump and dodge each and everyone of them. ‘If only her hands were tied, then they could grab that dang brooch and this whole thing would be over and- That’s it!’, she thought, she looked down at the finger trap in her hand. 

“Chat! Grab her wrist and pin it behind her back!”,she shouted. Chat nodded and quickly maneuvered behind Jokerbat and grabbed her arm. She watched him twist it and pin it behind Jokerbat, who was thrashing around to try and grab Chat Noir. 

“Naughty students deserved to be punished! After detention you will all become well behaved students!”, she yelled at them, her free arm desperately reaching out to grab one of the boys.

Marinette grinned as she shouted at Robin to do the same thing as Chat. Said sidekick gave her a swift nod and grabbed Jokerbat’ s other arm, narrowly avoiding more magenta lasers that were aimed straight at him. She watched him use her arm to pin the thrashing woman to the ground. Quickly, she rushed over and forced the woman’s fingers into the finger trap, and Chat Noir grabbed the brooch and removed it from Jokerbat’s collar. Jokerbat screamed, “NO!” Her voice shrill as she struggled to free her hands. “Cataclysm!”, Chat shouted and the ominous green light that appeared in his hand was very familiar.

She watched as the brooch turned black, then crumbled and fell to pieces. Then a black and purple butterfly flew out of the remains. Jokerbat went limp and didn’t move at all. ‘She’s dead?’ Is it in bad taste if she poked her with a stick? “Dot! Quick purify the akuma!”, Chat said and not really thinking Marinette retracted her yo-yo and threw it at the retreating butterfly. To her surprise her yo-yo opened? And was surrounded by a pinkish light.

“Time to…de-evilize!”, she shouted as her yo-yo swallowed the butterfly. Wait what did she just say? De-evilize? Is that even a word? Only for it to come back to her, when she caught it, it opened up once more to reveal a pure white butterfly. It fluttered around her, circling her head and then flew off. “Bye-bye little butterfly.”, she whispered as she watched it fly further and further away from her.

“Hey Dot, catch!”, Chat’s voice came and she looked just in time to see him throwing the finger trap at her. She caught it, fumbling only a little and looked at him with a confused look. She looked over at Jokerbat, she was face first in the dirt! She grinned. “Throw this up in the air and say “Miraculous Ladybug” really loud!”, he threw his arms up in the air for the last words.

She nodded, and gave one final look at Jokerbat, then back at the finger trap. Which she then chucked high into the air, “Miraculous Ladybug!”, she shouted. Then she was surrounded by a swarm of glowing ladybugs! She smiled as they swirled around her and tickled her nose. It was so warm and so uplifting. They then flew over to Jokerbat and turned her back into the grouchy lady from before. Her eyes followed the trail of ladybugs and she watched the “students” turn back to normal. Then they flew up and then shot off in different directions. 

“Wow.”,she whispered, ‘That…was…AMAZING!’ She grinned excitedly and looked at Chat who smiled back at her. “It’s miraculous isn’t it?”, he asked. She snorted then Robin groaned, “Wow, that was so funny I forgot to laugh.” She frowned at Robin, before smirking, “Did the bat teach you that it’s rude to just kitten and interrupt someone like that?” Robin glared at her and she grinned, “Gee, with how much you glare like Batsy, one would think you’re a mockingbird not a Robin.” She heard Chat laugh as a weird look came over Robin’s face. Then he looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, but before anything could be said or done, she heard a beeping sound from her earrings.

“Looks like you gotta go recharge. You did good Dot!”, Chat grinned at her and she took that as her cue to leave. So she threw her yo-yo and when it went taut, she flew away. She looked over her shoulder to find Robin still staring at her.

_**___*****Line Break*****___** _

No sooner did she land on the balcony she felt the warmth of the ladybug transformation disappear and she was left feeling incomplete again. She frowned and looked at her now un-gloved hands, did she always feel this lonely before? Then she looked up and saw Alya and Tikki smiling at her. 

“Marinette! You did it!”, Alya beamed at her, she looked so proud and excited. “I’m so proud of you Little Bug!” Marinette felt her cheeks warm up. “Aw shucks.”,she grinned. 

“I should’ve known it was you with the ladybug miraculous.”, a familiar voice said, her eyes widened and she was shocked to see Glasses smiling at her. She squeaked and hid behind Alya, who started chuckling. “Oops, guess Tikki forgot to mention that Nino knows my secret.” Alya gave Bug Mouse an amused look, who looked back at her sheepishly. 

“Sorry Alya, I guess I was just excited to see my child!”, Bug Mouse grinned. There she goes again, child. She’s not her child. She’s Pops’ daughter no one elses! Bug Mouse’s big blue eyes fell on her, “You did wonderfully! Such a natural hero! I knew you could do it! Even when your plan fell apart, you stayed calm and won!” She was dancing around and she seemed to glow brighter with every word. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alya look a little crestfallen, which made her frown. While Bug Mouse was busy singing her praises, Marinette took the earrings off.

Then she handed them to Alya, “Here you go. As fun as that was. I don’t look so good in red and black.” She smiled at her, Alya was surprised but smiled back. Quickly putting them back on her ears, and then handed Marinette her moon earrings. Bug Mouse looked sad, like really sad. “B-but don’t you want to be a hero?”, she pouted. Marinette shook her head no, “Let’s just say I don’t usually hold heroes in the best of light.” 

Glasses and Alya gave her a confused look as she said that. Marinette smiled, “thanks for the opportunity. But I’m not really one for ladybugs. Bunnies though, those I have an affinity for!” She winked and Bug Mouse looked hurt. 

She frowned at this, and internally scoffed. What did she think that just because she wore the earrings once, she’d suddenly change her tune? What would give her that idea? **_BECAUSE SHE THINKS YOU’RE WEAK! SHE THINKS THAT YOU’RE SO WEAK MINDED THAT YOU’ll BETRAY EVERYTHING YOU WERE TAUGHT JUST LIKE THAT! WE SHOULD TEACH HER A LESSON! SHOW HER YOU AREN’T WEAK!_** No! No one is teaching anyone a lesson! A-at least not right now, she still owes us an explanation. For all that’s happened today. 

Marinette cleared her throat, loudly. Everyone was now looking at her. She looked at Bug Mouse, “You said you’d answer my questions after I helped with the Joke-I mean Miss Behave.” Bug mouse’s eyes bore into her, and then a wide grin appeared on her face. 

“Yes! Of course!”,Bug mouse smiled at her before she cleared her throat and closed her eyes. The whole room went dark and the blinds shut themselves closed. There was absolutely no light. “I should start at the beginning. A long time ago, when I ,Tikki the kwami of life and creation, tied my existence to the Ladybug earrings. I made five souls, five souls that would be best fit to wield the ladybug miraculous.” Bug Mouse summoned figures of pink light that turned into the figures that helped for Marinette to better understand her tale.

“And that’s how it was for years, until I found that those souls could never really… bond with the miraculous. Or become a true ladybug, in a sense. This confused me until I realized that those souls were lacking in areas that would allow them to become true ladybugs. They didn’t have the determination, they couldn’t think on their feet, or they lacked the ability to create. The people that had those souls just couldn’t be true ladybugs.” The figures would dance and morph with every word that came from Bug Mouse. 

“So I decided I would make one more soul. One perfect soul, that would be able to wield the miraculous and all its gifts. That soul became the first true ladybug, full of all the traits that are needed for a ladybug.” The figures merged into one, a small glowing version of Marinette. She held her breath and it’s eyes stared into her own. Then the figure burst into a pink cloud of light that flew back to Bug Mouse. Marinette watched as the tiny god opened her eyes. “From then on that soul was my chosen. My child. And you, Marinette, you have that soul. You are my child.”

So she’s really her daughter? She’s Bug Mouse’s kid? She’s supposed to be a ladybug? She’s supposed to be a hero? But what about Pops? What about her plans for world domination? Or to rule Gotham side by side with Pops? What about everything she wants to do? Is she supposed to throw it all away because some magical being says she’s their daughter?

“Wait, so do I have one of the original souls?”, Alya asked, effectively breaking Marinette’s train of thought. Bug Mouse turned to the bespectacled girl who looked so excited. Excited for what? To learn more about her powers? Excited for retirement? Bug Mouse looked a little sad and then she said. “Yes, you have one of those first souls.” 

Alya grinned and looked at Glasses who was staring at Bug Mouse with a frown. “Why do you say it like that’s a bad thing?”, she asked. She saw Alya freeze out of the corner of her eye, she looked back at the floating god, who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. Marinette frowned and her phone beeped. 

**Pops:** Come home soon! I have a surprise! 

Pops, what’s she going to tell him? ‘Hey Pops I’m the daughter of ladybug spirit! I’m supposed to be a hero! Supposed to be a goody two shoes, and the ladybug spirit wants me to throw all your teachings down the drain!’, she wanted to laugh, but she felt numb. Nothing makes sense, nothing feels right anymore. 

“It’s not a bad thing, per say.”, Bug Mouse spoke up. Marinette looked at her, she looked too happy. “It just means that Marinette is the true ladybug. She’s the perfect Ladybug.”

Alya flinched, and Glasses glared at Bug Mouse, who was smiling. This wasn’t right. The way she was talking and how she so easily dismissed Alya was making her very uncomfortable. Glasses looked angry and looked like he wanted to say a lot of things. She should go. POPS IS WAITING. She looked Alya in the eyes, “I-I have to go. I’m sorry Alya.” She recognized the look of worry in Alya’s eyes and then the girl reached out for her and she panicked. She ran. 

She ran out the door, away from Alya and Bug Mouse, who called out for her to come back. She ran to the elevator and immediately was pushing the button over and over again,until she was roughly pulled and spun around. She was suddenly face to face with Alya and a floating Bug Mouse above them both. “Marinette, what’s going on?”, Alya asked. Her eyes pleading for an answer. 

Before she could answer the elevator dinged showing that it arrived. She heard the doors open and Marinette reacted, she twisted her body and pushed Alya away and dove into the elevator. When the doors closed she slumped against the elevator wall, why is this all happening now? **_BECAUSE YOU’RE BEING TESTED. EVERYONE IS TRYING TO TURN YOU AGAINST POPS. THIS IS A TEST FROM THE UNIVERSE TO SEE IF YOU ARE WORTHY OF BEING HIS PARTNER. AND YOU’RE FAILING._**

She’s failing? How? Is it because she’s doubting everything? That’s it! That’s what’s going on! It’s a test from the universe, and in order for her to not fail, she has to trust everything she’s been taught. That’s it. Just don’t doubt Pops, or anything she’s been taught. ‘Just pretend you didn’t parade around in a ladybug hoodie. Act like none of this happened, you are Marinette Dolly Levi, daughter of the Joker. No one else! You have no mother-’ “ _What about Judy?_ ”, the calm voice cut in. ‘- I only have your Pops, Bud and Lou.’ _“What about Punch? Uncle Eddie and Uncle Harvey?”_ ‘And whoever Pops approves of. They are the only family you need.’, she told herself. Nothing happened.

Nothing happened. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. With the mantra set, she rose up to her feet and noticed that she was finally down on the first floor, she smiled and the doors opened. She took a step out and saw the transformed version of Jokerbat surrounded by Alya’s class. The students fawned and cooed over the redhead, who looked so pleased to see them like that. She rolled her eyes and kept walking towards the exit. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder, she cringed and looked over her shoulder to find Lila.

Great. 

Lila herself looked relieved to see her, but that was most likely an act. “Marinette! I’m so glad to see you’re okay!”, She smiled at her, then she threw her arms around her. Marinette noticed that a small group of girls were staring at them, whispering amongst themselves. Gossip. **_PLAY ALONG WITH HER, THIS WILL BE FUN._**

She smirked, okay then, and wrapped her arms Lila, “Of course I’m fine. This is Gotham…” She said, she leaned in closer to Lila to whisper, “ It’s my playground.” She gently pushed her away, “Well I should get going, my papa is waiting for me! He said that there’s a surprise at home, and it’s a real kind jester.” She smiled at Lila, and took immense satisfaction at seeing the look of terror on her face. She saw a goth girl and a pink girl give her weird looks, “I mean gesture, sorry sometimes I can mix up my words.” They both seemed to accept that answer and went back to whispering. She looked Lila in the eyes and said “Goodnight Lila!” Then she walked out the door. That _was_ fun. 

_“Was it really?_ ”, the calm voice asked her in a knowing tone. She narrowed her eyes and looked forward, “Yes it was.”

_**___*****Line Break*****__** _ **_**

After a long walk that cleared her head, she was finally home. She ran excitedly to the front door and knocked. “Shave, and a haircut, two bits.” The door slowly opened, and she walked inside. It was dark, dark enough so that she couldn’t see right in front of her. She rolled her eyes.

“If there’s no one here, I guess I’ll just go take a walk!”,she said as she lifted her leg to walk outside. The door slammed shut. Got him. She closed her eyes and counted under her breath, “5,4,3,2,1.”

“SURPRISE!”, a bunch of voices shouted. The lights switched on and Marinette had a face full of balloons and streamers. She grinned and saw Punch and Judy wheeling in a giant three tiered cake. A cake that said, “CONGRATULATIONS DOLLY!” Her grin turned into a look of shock and pure delight. She clasped her hands and exclaimed, “All this for me?!” 

Wait, it was a lot of people. This wasn’t the skeleton crew she lives with, these were henchpeople, and that could only mean. “That’s right my dear, it’s time.”, Pops’ voice came from behind her. She whipped her head around and saw Pops holding a hanger, and on that hanger was an outfit. An outfit that looked like a copy of his iconic purple suit, but her size. She walked closer and slowly reached out to grab it.

She touched the fabric of the purple pinstripe blazer, and she grinned at Pops, “T-this is for me?” Pops’ eternal smile softened a bit, “Of course! Who else would I be giving this to?” Her eyes started to water and she threw her arms around his torso. She felt him relax and return her hug. He’s her Pops, he raised her, he found her, he healed her, he helped her, he comforted her, he’s her Pops. **DID BUG MOUSE LOOK UNDER YOUR BED FOR MONSTERS?** No. **DID BUG MOUSE WIPE YOUR TEARS WHEN YOU FELL?** No. **DID BUG MOUSE DO ANYTHING FOR YOU?** No, Bug Mouse was never in her life, she’s no parent to her. She’s nothing to her. Pops is her only parent.

Pops pulled away and handed her the outfit, she looked up at him confused, “I almost forgot.” He snapped his fingers and Judy stepped forward, holding a pillow with a box on it. Pops took the box from her and handed it to Marinette. “Open it.” Marinette grabbed the box and slowly opened the lid. It was a tiara? A small tiara with purple gems embedded in it. It’s beautiful! But- “Your second debut is soon, and I thought that every princess needs a crown.”

She had the biggest smile on her face as she nodded her head. Then a henchman came forward and whispered something in Pops’ ear. His smile fell and he had an annoyed look on his face, but it came back as soon as he turned to her, “Daddy has some business to attend to, your uncle is being stupid. Go have some cake and I’ll be back soon.” She nodded and went over to the cake. 

As soon as she stepped close to the cake she was handed a plate with a giant slice of chocolate cake by Punch. She smiled, grabbed the plate and thanked him. He signed back, “Go enjoy your cake. Have fun.” She nodded and walked over to sit at a table, she noticed how many of the henchmen moved away from her. **_THEY ARE SCARED! AS THEY SHOULD! THEY SHOULD FEAR YOU!_** _“But do you want to be feared?”_ Marinette didn’t respond to either voice, instead she moved over to a corner. Where nobody was. 

She sighed, and felt the toll of the day start to get to her, she needs to relax. She took a bite of her cake and as she chewed, she took a look around. She saw her brothers eating lots of meat, Punch and Judy were busy entertaining everyone else, while Pops was nowhere to be seen. Looks like she won’t be able to do that here. Maybe she should go take a walk.

She looked around the room once more, all these people are starting to make her feel a bit…claustrophobic. Sighing, she got up and made up her mind, she’s gonna take a walk and relax. She placed her slice of cake on the table and walked over to Pops office. She passed by Punch and Judy who only had enough time to wave at her before going back to talking to the new henchmen. ‘Pops must be planning something big if there’s all these people here.’, she thought, ‘I wonder what it is. A team up with the uncles? Probably. Uncle Eddie and Uncle Harvey were here the other day. Ooh! Revenge on Harley Quinn?! Wait, no, too soon. Definitely too soon. A heist? Maybe. But where? And steal what? It’s her second debut, whatever it is, it’s gonna be awesome!’

Oh, she’s at the door to Pops’ office. How long had she been standing here? Oh well, shrugging her shoulders she knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a slightly disgruntled Pops, “Dolly? Why aren’t you at the party?”, he asked. 

She smiled sheepishly, “I-I think, I’m just a little overwhelmed…I was thinking I should go take a walk…To you know relax?” Pops nodded his head, and then a person’s voice called out, “Joker! Do we have a deal or no?”

Pops got an irritated look on his face, before it shifted back into a smile, “Yes of course Dolly. You go for a walk, just don’t forget curfew.” Marinette nodded and then the door was shut in her face. ‘Pops must be really busy to brush her off like this.’, she thought as she walked away from his office.

She sighed and walked to the door, she gave a little wave to Punch who waved back before turning back to the people he was talking to. Marinette frowned and opened the door, she took a breath of air and walked out.

**____*****Line Break*****____ **

She’d been walking around for about 20 minutes trying to ignore the “calm” voice and the “angry” voice. One wanting her to talk about her feelings, the other wanting her to return home immediately. She just wanted them to shut up, the angry one usually appeared whenever she herself was angry but ever since she put on those earrings, her mind has been divided in two, with barely any room for her. She looked at the wall she was walking by and contemplated hitting her head against it. ‘No that would hurt me more then them. Wait it wouldn’t even hurt them!’, she growled in frustration. 

_“Maybe we should stop and go home.”,_ the calm voice suggested. Marinette frowned, as much as she hated to admit it. She should head home, it is almost close to curfew, she sighed and looked at the wall again. Wait, this wall, she rubbed her eyes, she’s at Gotham City Park. She looked to her left, the entrance was a few steps away.  
  
_**LEAVE! WE NEED TO LEAVE!!!** “Do you want to go to the park?” **NO! LEAVE! WE HAVE TO LEAVE!**_ The two voices were now arguing, and it was too much. Marinette felt her anger rise up again. Shut up. **Shut up**. **_SHUT UP! SHUT UP!_** She growled and threw a punch at the wall. Her hand was stinging now. Both voices immediately silenced, she looked at the entrance, she didn’t feel anything particularly negative when she saw it. Instead when she saw it, she felt happy and warm. 

“Mari! Come on! You’re so slow!”, Manny shouted as he ran ahead of her to the playground. Marinette was breathing heavily as she struggled to catch up to the red haired boy while holding onto her precious Cottontail.

_“You’re too fast!”, she cried out, then she felt her foot lose its balance. Her eyes widened as she went crashing to the ground, landing on her knee. She felt a very sharp pain in her knee as she rose into a sitting position, tears were now welling up in her eyes. Her lower lip trembled and she let out a loud wail and began crying her heart out. She reached for cottontail and pulled him close, still crying._

_“Mari!”, She vaguely heard Manny’s voice through her cries of pain, a moment later she heard Manny’s voice again, “Mari! I’m here! What happened!”_

_Marinette looked him in the eye through her tears, “I w-was try-ing…”, she sobbed, “t-to catc-ch up to y-you a-a-and I fell!” Manny hugged her and rubbed her back._

_“There, there Mari, you’re okay.”, Manny said gently, “I’m sorry. It’s my fault you got hurt.” Manny reached into his pocket and pulled out a few band-aids, “When I was younger I used to end up getting hurt alot, so Mother told me to always have a few of these on hand.” Marinette sniffled and watched him open it, then carefully place the band-aid on her bleeding wound. “There! See all better right?”, Manny smiled at her and Marinette smiled back._

_“Um hum”, she nodded and wiped her eyes. Manny rose up and extended his hand for her to grab, she smiled and took his hand. “Come on, let’s go play.”_

Marinette smiled at the memory, the park has always been a place full of love and joy. One little stroll wouldn’t hurt would it? Taking a deep breath she walked closer to the entrance, one little walk down memory lane. No one would even know she was there. She was at the entrance now, her breath formed a lump in her throat. She looked at the park, it was empty, no one would ever know she had been there. 

Taking another deep breath, she lifted her foot and stepped past the entrance, she was officially inside the park. She looked around, she immediately saw the playground, she saw the trees she helped plant had grown so much in the short time she’s been away. It’s only been a year, everything was so very different. The trees were bigger, the playground was smaller, the flowers weren’t the same, and that was an entirely new slide!

She kept walking, and the further into the park she got the more she realized that the park hadn’t changed at all. The trees were still lush and full of life, the flowers were still in full bloom and the picnic tables were still the same vibrant cerulean blue. Not a single thing out of place, it made her happy to see. She smiled, and kept walking through the park. Everywhere she looked she saw a memory of happier times, times with Manny and Cottontail. She giggled, she really was taking a trip down memory lane. Oooh! There’s the place where she fell and scraped her knee. Oh! There’s the tree where she fought a big kid to protect Manny’s honor! That’s where they had her 8th birthday party! Wait…Then Willoughby should be nearby, her eyes roamed the area. Searching for Willoughby, a tree that she had planted herself on her 8th birthday. Then she spotted something. A small grove of oak trees, that wasn’t there before. Curious she walked over to the grove, and maneuvered her body in between the trees. 

She was stunned, hidden among the oak trees was a clearing, and in it was a large willow tree surrounded by golden marigolds. She gasped, her tree! Willoughby! They’re still here! And it’s…it’s…it’s beautiful! She ran over excitedly, noticing that there was a small walkway in the marigolds to the tree, she took one step onto the walkway and stopped dead in her tracks. Willoughby…was still here. They were still alive? She looked at Willoughby who was obviously flourishing in the time she’s been away. But why? 

Manny and Ivy had helped Harley in the latter’s attempt to kill her, so why keep Willoughby alive? _“Maybe they wanted a way to remember you?” **ITS BECAUSE IT’S A TREE! THEY’RE ALL ABOUT PLANTS!**_ Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Wait, what the heck is on Willoughby? She walked closer to Willoughby, there was a shelf built carved into it? No, it was as if that shelf had been grown by the tree, and on that shelf was a small portrait…a portrait of…of…her? Her tree had been converted into a memorial…for her.

Her eyes scanned everything, there were battery operated candles, and little bunny plushies on the shelf. W-what is this? Who would do this? She felt her heartbeat rise and it was just too much. There was no reason for there to be a memorial of herself in Gotham City park. It just made no sense! They tried to kill her. They left her for dead, they ignored her screams of terror and her cries for help. _“Are you sure about that?_ ” She took a step back and was about to run away when vines shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around her arms and legs. She was now an upside down lowercase “t”. Panic began to set in.

“I don’t know how you got past the oak trees, but this area is off limits to the public.”, a distinctly male voice came from behind her, Marinette froze. Oh no. No. No. No. No. This was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to be taken captive by a meta. What should she do? What should she do? What could she do? Stay calm. Stay calm and don’t freak out. Oh how is she not supposed to freak out, she’s tied up in the enemy’s territory! Maybe if she stalled, she could psych them out and get them to release her. Then run like a bat out of hell. She could feel the blood rushing to her head., oh this is gonna be bad. “Well? Are you going to say anything?”, the same person said in an irritated tone.

“I-I planted this tree, I have a right to be here.”, she said, trying to keep her voice steady. Immediately the vines around her limbs tightened their grip. She winced and tried to much discomfort she felt. “Liar!”, the person yelled. “I helped plant this tree with my best friend! She died over a year ago and I can guarantee you’re not her!”

Marinette’s blood ran cold, no that’s the blood pooling in her head, she felt her pulse quicken as she realized who was holding her captive. “M-Manny?’, she whispered. She felt the vines grip loosen, before tightening their hold again. She heard footsteps and they got closer and closer until the person was right in front of her. They were wearing a black hoodie that covered up most of their face, yet she could see a few strands of red hair peeking out. She held her breath, the person took off their hood to reveal Manny. She gasped, it’s him, it’s really him. B-but there was a scar, a really big scar on his head. Right where the part of his hair used to be was a pink scar. And his eyes, they were so sunken, so sad. 

Manny’s eyes were beginning to water, “Marigold?”, his voice was breaking slightly. He slowly rose his hand and touched her cheek, she flinched and looked anywhere but him. “Oh Mari, what did he do to you?” Marinette clenched her firsts. 

“If by “he” you mean Pops? He’s done nothing but love me, care for me, and protect me!”, she sneered. “While you, your mother, and Harley Quinn left me for dead after dropping a building on me! ” She growled out her words and narrowed her eyes at her former friend. Meanwhile, his eyes widened and he looked shocked by her words. Oh the headache is getting worse. Way worse, oh that hurt.

“Marigold-”, she cut him off, “You don’t get to call me that!” “M-Marinette! That is not what happened! That day, your mother was trying to get you out of that hellhole! Joker found out and he accidently blew up the building! We tried to save you, but then Mother was shot he almost killed Aunt Harley!-” Marinette stopped him, “I d-don’ belief yooou.” Her words were slurring a bit. “Ta blod. It’s goin’ to-” Marinette’s world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys Spirit here! Hope you enjoyed GPP!


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